


Five Thousand Years

by 47tuc



Category: Fifth Element (1997), Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abandonment, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Asshole president Tsukki, Bokuto has a gun and knows how to use it, Eventual Smut, Fifth Element (1997) - Freeform, Gay priest Suga, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kageyama curses like a sailor, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, No non-con between pairings, References to non-con are flashbacks, Self-Hatred, Slow Burn, fifth element au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2018-10-18 15:10:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 73,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10619526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/47tuc/pseuds/47tuc
Summary: To defeat the great evil, the fifth element returns in the form of an unsuspecting human.





	1. To Quit Is My Goal

**Author's Note:**

> Fifth Element AU, AKA, Haikyuu!! IN SPACE!
> 
> I love the Fifth Element, I love Haikyuu!!, so here you go. I am a space nerd so this mishmash of my interests felt like the right place to begin my first ever fan fiction! I don't have this planned out but I expect to update with a new chapter every week or so. Also, I wrote this with the hope that people who have not watched the Fifth Element will not feel lost in the woods (but it's a great movie, so you should watch!!!). I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing! 
> 
> Also, thanks to my home skillet and bff [MT_Yami](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MT_Yami) for helping me, ~~especially with Hinata's aged-upedness~~ with literally everything.
> 
> Caveat: this is a living document. I will be constantly changing things in this fic as I learn how to write (literally), and I will go back as needed to flesh out aspects of my characters as my inexperience demands. If this would get annoying to you, you are welcome to come back when it's finished :)

“Sir, we are getting unexpected feedback in the vicinity of Sag A star!”

Startled by the mousy tech's uncharacteristic outburst, Commander Keishin Ukai lumbered across the ship’s command deck with the grace of a stampeding rhino to peer at the tech's main radar screen.

“What?” barked Commander Ukai.

“Uhh, not there, sir, it's a signal in the x-ray.” The tech's trembling hand diverted her commander's attention to a nearby screen of erratic signal blips.  “Our on-board x-ray detectors have latched onto high amplitude, periodic increases in flux in just the past few minutes, almost as if we found a new pulsar--”

“So, what's the big deal, techie? We find pulsars all the time, especially on patrol,” Ukai fired back, at once dismissing both the signal and the tech as noise compared to what he usually dealt with as a fleet commander.  Out this close to the Galactic center, a whole host of new signals could crop up given the higher density of stars and remnants in the Galaxy’s central bulge.

“Uhh, s-sir, the p-pulses are irr-r-regular, so even i-if the spectrum didn't indicate the source as highly blueshifted, it's s-still a n-new object in the G-galaxy-”

Ukai sighed, already exasperated.  “Techie, what's your name?”

“Uhmmm, Dr. H-Hitoka Yachi, s-sir.”

He let shock flash across his face but for a moment before schooling his expression.  They’ve been out scouting for almost a year and he still had yet to meet everyone on board his ship; he had little patience for the mundane meet-and-greet, and even less patience for meek stammering.  “Dr. Yachi, get to the point--”

The words tumbled out of Dr. Yachi's mouth in a burst of adrenaline.  “It's an unnatural object barreling towards the Earth at fifty percent the speed of light that may or may not be catastrophically dangerous! _SIR!_ ”

Stark silence fell over the command deck at her words but Ukai barely noticed what with the loud buzzing between his ears.  As a bright cadet, he’d learned all about the event five thousand years ago, when Father Vito Cornelius and his team saved the world from evil that was fated to return again and again.  Talk of the event resurged since the five-thousand-year anniversary loomed ever closer on the horizon.  An unfamiliar panic held him stock still as he continued looking at Dr. Yachi’s monitors without really seeing.   _Is this it, is this really--_

“ _It's happening again--it's finally here,_ ” a quiet voice echoed from behind Ukai, where a large crowd of techs and officers formed a vibrating semicircle of glasses and lab coats and pocket protectors around Dr. Yachi’s station.

Another tremoring voice, “ _It's been five thousand years! I can't believe we get to see it!  How lucky are we?!_ ”

“ _But if the evil is here, where is the fifth ele--_ ”

“God damnit, someone get Kageyama in here, _NOW!_ ”  While Ukai's command shut everyone up, it did little else, catapulting his frustration to its summit.  He needed his data man who could figure all this shit out for him, and he needed him here _stat_.

“I said, _NOW!_ ”

\----

A pounding on the door startled him awake.  Hoping it was just his imagination, he rolled over in his cocoon of blankets with a grunt and tried to fall back asleep.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK..._

“God damnit.”  Tobio Kageyama shuffled around, emerging from his covers to walk across the cold floor of his shitty ship compartment.

He opened the door, his intruder’s hand still raised to issue yet another fucking _knock_.

“What the fuck do you want, Oikawa?”

“Heeeey, _Tooooobio_!  I didn’t wake you, did I?”  

Tobio left Tooru Oikawa’s question hanging, hoping his freshly-woken glare was answer enough.

Oikawa’s expression softened.  “Chin up, sleepyhead, the Commander wants to see you.”

“What’s up his ass this time?” Resigned, Tobio mumbled as he turned around to put on some more clothes.  He couldn’t ignore the call of his commanding officer, even if the messenger was this asshole.

“Oh, you know, the end of the world.”

“You’re such a fucking drama queen.”  As the lead data scientist on board the scouting rig _The Crow_ , Tobio’s expertise was needed to contextualize the influx of raw data collected by the ship’s many sensors and ‘scopes.  He spent most of his days burying himself in models to explain all the signals in the noise.  After years travelling around the Galaxy in various ships and stations, he was rarely ruffled by any one blip or beep on the radar screen.  In some form or another, he had seen it all.  

And so had his assistant, Oikawa.

So when Oikawa didn’t throw back a sassy _who, me?_ , Tobio turned back around from putting on his thermal pants to note the rare seriousness of his colleague’s expression.

“What’s actually going on, and can you please not fuck around with me?”

“Oh, I’d love to, but time’s a-ticking,” Oikawa whined, with a little less flair than usual.

On their way to the main command deck, Tobio haphazardly dressed and hair a greasy black mess, Oikawa gave Tobio a run-down of Dr. Yachi’s x-ray signal.  “Commander Ukai wants you to check historical logs for pulsars to see if any of their spectral signatures match this one.”

“With those exact words?” Tobio joked.

“Oh, you know him.  All bark, no brain,” Oikawa replied with a smirk.

Getting back to business, Tobio pondered what needed to be done to classify this so-called unnatural object.  “Historical pulsar data is probably miles deep--run a query of the archives to pick out any pulsars in the last thousand years with amplitudes at least as high as this one’s, in the same frequency.”

“Anything for you, Tobio,” he replied, cocky smile in place.

Tobio sighed.   _He is such a pain in the ass._  “Send those data while I speak to Dr. Yachi.”

Oikawa winked and ran off to the lab while Tobio shook his head and continued to central command, the only sounds in the narrow ship corridor the heavy clang of his boots on the ship deck.  He had worked with Oikawa for years now, bouncing from ship-to-ship and spending scant days at home on Earth.  Over the years, his response to Oikawa had evolved from acute annoyance at his brazen comments and flitty attitude, to begrudging respect for his talent when he managed to put his nose to the grind.  Now it was a healthy mix of both.  Oikawa rankled his nerves like few could, but he’d had Tobio’s back as a data scientist and managed to earn Tobio’s trust, something no one else in the Galaxy could claim to have done.

 _He’s still annoying as fuck_.

They’d mostly been assigned to scouting missions to keep a watchful eye on space (fun fact: it’s big).  On rare occasions they got a job on the cool science ships with the big detectors that could go wherever they wanted, but he hadn’t been that lucky in years.

Hell, he hadn’t had much luck at all in his sad, pathetic life.  Only child to a pair of stoic parents, he left home after high school and breezed his way through college several years early on scholarship without making so much as a single friend.  His math teachers had praised him, calling him a _genius statistician_ , which earned him the ire of his older classmates.  After many failed interactions with The Human Race, he’d long since given up.  Data never sneered at him, called him a faggot, or shoved him up against a locker for kicks.   _Or worse._

 _Data have always been better friends to me than people_ , he thought as he arrived at _The Crow_ ’s central command, busy as a beehive.  He peered around at the worker bees flitting from station to station, their heads whipping between scrolling monitors, speaking in hushed tones.  He found his mark, the shock of yellow hair making the queen bee stick out like a sore thumb.

“You wanted to see me, sir.”

Commander Ukai spared Tobio a glance but kept his focus ahead of him on Dr. Yachi’s station, the screen casting green reflections on his face.  “I assume Oikawa briefed you, Kageyama.  Do you have any idea what this means?” he asked with a stoic expression, his low voice betraying his serious concern.

“I understand, sir, but it’s all meaningless without context.”  Tobio felt Dr. Yachi’s bristling nearby.  “I have Oikawa scraping--err, looking through the archives for any similarities to this signal, sir.”

Commander Ukai’s shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly at his words; it seemed the deck could use a healthy dose of _chill the fuck out._ “This is of the utmost importance.  If this, whatever it is, is outside of the norm, we will have to report directly to the President and brief him.  We need to be absolutely sure.”

“Yessir.”

After conferring with Dr. Yachi, Tobio left the beehive and snuck up on Oikawa, finding him stomping on the lab’s terminal keys with his fingers, once perfectly coiffed brown hair mussed from repeated runs-through with his hands.

“Oikawa?”

“I didn’t send you anything.  I don’t need to.  Five, Kageyama.  There’s only been _five_ , and their rotational periods have all been regular for the last _thousand years_.  We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

\----

“I’ll need you to stay a little longer, Hinata!  Nishinoya called in, he’s gonna be late,” his boss called over the discordant mess of the café’s kitchen.

Shouyou nodded, turning to burst backwards through the revolving door to serve his hungry customers, arms laden with artfully prepared and absurdly expensive lunch specials.  

He carefully placed the plates down in front of the wealthy businessmen that frequented the café, easily remembering who ordered what, saccharine smile plastered on his face.  “Anything else I can get for you?” he asked.  Ignored by his customers, he walked-- _no running, Hinata!--_ very quickly to check up on a few of his (and Noya’s) tables before returning to the kitchen.  He stopped in front of the warming counter and idly tapped his foot on the ground, waiting for more orders to serve, the stress of being short-handed changing the course of his thoughts for the worse.

This isn’t exactly how he’d pictured his life going.

Though Shouyou liked his job well enough, and he was very good at it, his parents were concerned that he still hadn’t moved on to something better, like a real career.  He’d struggled a lot in school, his poor grades dashing any chances of attending university, only managing to graduate by the skin of his teeth about-- _wow, was it really seven_ _years ago?_

That whole experience would have been miserable without volleyball.

During his hey day, he’d been a key player in the revival of Aoba Johsai high school’s volleyball team.  Despite being vertically challenged, he helped take his team to nationals, thanks to his turn-on-a-dime agility and bottomless stamina.  They’d made a pact to always play together, to make it to the top together, and Shouyou had never felt more pride and excitement in his whole life.   _Those were the good old days--_

“Order up!”

He startled at the shout, shaking the memories from his head before expertly piling the hot plates on his arms, the burn of them subdued after years of experience.  He bustled around after serving the food, refilling water glasses and arranging flatware, and he couldn’t help but think about his one failed dream.

He’d believed he could go pro with his teammates, not only so they could keep playing volleyball together, but to prove that he didn’t have to be a straight-A student to be worth something.  His hopes had ramped up watching several of his older teammates get heavily recruited during Aoba Johsai’s back-to-back appearances at nationals.  Despite their successes, when Shouyou’s time came up in his final year, those same recruiters overlooked him, citing he was weak as an independent entity, his impressive stamina not enough to overcome what he lacked in height.

He’d spent many nights crying alone in his room as his classmates went off to play around the world, leaving him stuck alone in Earth Building A-8, sector 67.  He’d tried so hard to feel pride for his teammates; in high school, they were like family, but that made it hurt all the more when they so easily left him behind.  They’d _promised._

After graduation, the betrayal he’d felt creeped into conversations with his now former friends, Shouyou unable to celebrate their victories as wholeheartedly as he should have.  He’d been cast aside by his teammates not once but twice, and it was all his fault.  The expanse of time had torn him and his former teammates irreparably apart, and nowadays he only saw pixelated versions of them during broadcasted volleyball matches instead of the real thing.

Now his only avenue for volleyball was the sparse adult league, which he somehow held together despite its high turnover rate and poor recruiting prospects.  While a few current members had been around for a couple of years, most would invariably vanish without a trace, running off to get married or relocating for an important job opportunity.   He understood.  But volleyball was worth it.  Volleyball had saved his life in high school.  It was his _purpose_.  

But he knew he could do it, _be something_ , if only given the chance.

As he brought back a bunch of dirty dishes to the kitchen, he noticed his favorite customer sit down in the front of the house.  He made his way over in haste, happy to serve a familiar face.

“Good afternoon, Kiyoko!”

“Ah, Shou.  I’ll have the usual.”

Shouyou nodded, keying in the order on his tablet, showing his first genuine smile of the day.

“Practice tonight?” Kiyoko inquired.

He rolled his eyes, placing one hand on his hip.  “Yeah, but it looks like I’ll be late.  Noya’s… being Noya.”

Kiyoko smirked, appraising him over the rim of her glasses.  “If only you had one of those,” she remarked, glancing over at a commercial screen outside of the café, quickly returning her eyes to her own tablet.

He watched a group of happy faux-customers on the screen holding the newest model of the _Tanaka Deluxe Quantum Teleporter_ close to their bodies, only to disappear without a trace a moment later.

“When I’m rich and powerful enough to own one, I won’t forget you, Kiyoko!” he joked.

She looked back up at him and smiled.  “Better not.”

Just then Noya burst through the café’s front doors like a hurricane, the patrons turning in disgust, ruffled by the plebeian disruption of their hoity-toity working lunches.   _It’s a wonder Noya even has a job here_ , he sometimes wondered.

The man ran up to Shouyou, his heavy panting and sweaty brow proof he’d run all the way there.  “I’m here!  Sorry, Shou!  Go to practice!”

Shouyou smiled, his second of the day, and couldn’t help but tease the man a little.  “Thanks.  Take care of Kiyoko while I’m gone, eh?”

Nishinoya suddenly stopped breathing, eyes wide and serious as he rapidly composed his hair and clothes.  Shouyou laughed at his entranced co-worker, running off to change before heading to practice.

He sped from the café, dodging around scores of passersby on foot in the building’s busy thoroughfare.  As overpopulated as Earth was at the end of the 28th century, most of its viable landmass was occupied by thousand-story buildings, all connected to each other through maze corridors constructed every hundred levels or so.  The maze corridors were home to restaurants like the café, with levels dedicated to residences and humming industrial labs sandwiched between them.

The volleyball pitch was close enough to hoof it, but he rounded a corner in the corridor a little too quickly and slammed into an unsuspecting commuter at a breakneck speed.  He rebounded ungracefully, landing on the ground with a loud _thump_ , a burst of air forced from his lungs.

As Shouyou slowly stood with an apology on his lips, the words caught as he looked up at his unscathed collision partner.  His eyes traveled up, up, _up_ to reach the man’s face, passing over shiny leather shoes, an expensive looking suit, and a clean shave.  The man’s hair was gray, almost white, short-cropped and sticking up but… _he has no eyebrows?_  Most men were bigger than Shouyou, but the impact with this guy felt like running into a wall.

“I’m sorry!” he managed, holding up his hands placatingly, muscle memory kicking in from years of running into people as a kid.

The large man smiled, his eyes crinkling.  “It’s alright, son, just take it easy through here, okay?”  He silently bristled as a lion paw of a hand ruffled his hair for a few seconds, then he turned to continue on his way.

_Sigh.  How many times..._

Shouyou’s eyes burned holes through the man’s back as he walked away.   _I’m 25, damnit!_

Remembering that the encounter didn’t make him any less late for volleyball practice, he turned to run but immediately tripped over something in his path and hit the floor again.   _Yep, gonna be sore tomorrow._ He looked down behind him for the offending debris and saw a small, cylindrical metal object.  Shouyou never brought much of anything to practice besides his unwavering enthusiasm, so he must have collisionally dislodged whatever-it-was from the Wall Man.  He picked up the shiny object as he stood, turning it over in his hands until he nearly dropped it in his surprise--

_It’s a quantum teleporter!_

Long and dumbbell-shaped, the teleporter was deceptively light for its immense power.  Shouyou wrapped both hands around the device between its ends comfortably, which led to him mimicking the actors in those quantum teleporter ads, posing around like a dork in the middle of rush hour traffic.

He suddenly snapped out of his fantasy, guilt pressing him forward as he ran in the direction the man went to return the extremely valuable device _._ While teleporters were commonplace, _hand-held_ ones were most assuredly not.  Shouyou turned the corner but the man, who would surely tower over all of the busy foot traffic in the way, was long gone.

 _Huh…  that’s weird_.  He peered down at the teleporter he was still clutching in his right hand when a really, really bad idea wormed its way into his brain.

_No, no, no, no, no.  You don’t even know how to actually use one of these things… but… how hard could it be?_

At the first taste of real excitement in several years, his enthusiasm overshadowed his common sense.  If he used the teleporter just this one time, he wouldn’t have to be late to practice _and_ he could come back here tomorrow to find the Great Wall of Man to return it.   _To hell with it!_

He looked up and down the corridor, rebelliousness sweeping through his body as he fired up the teleporter and identified the volleyball court’s location.  Finger hovering over the **CONFIRM** button, his brain belched a final hoorah to the tune of _this is a really bad idea, Shou,_ which only made him hesitate for a second or two before pressing it.

The device whizzed in his hands, and as he had seen done a million times in commercials, he gripped the device tightly to his chest and waited for the magic to happen.  Its ramping vibration shook his hands, making it increasingly difficult to maintain his grip on the thing-- _I don’t remember this from the commercials-_ -and Shouyou began to doubt his bright idea just a little too late--

_WHOOOOOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_

Darkness.  He felt torn apart and reformed, thousands of times per second, but it wasn’t right.

_Something’s not right._

He screamed under the onslaught of the worst pain he’d ever felt.

\----

_Cotton in his mouth.  Ringing in his ears.   Pain... everywhere._

_Where am I?_

Shouyou tested his body but stopped, groaning miserably, when sharp pain blazed down the sensitive skin of his inner forearms.  He realized he was lying on his back, on something really soft, his upper body propped up a little and covered up against the cold of the room by a lightweight blanket.  He urged his vocal cords to produce a few words but was unsuccessful, the only sounds in the room a robotic beeping near his head.

Bits and pieces returned to him, including getting off of work late and rushing to volleyball practice, but he drew a blank on everything afterwards.  Had he dived for a receive only to hit his head on the floor or something?

While the mystery persisted, someone, or someones? entered his--- well, wherever he was-- and unsure of his situation, he feigned sleeping in their presence.

“What happened to him, doctor?”  The soft female voice approached, after which he heard what sounded like a click, then a _whoosh_ of air.

“A teleport gone wrong.  Those things are practically ironclad, especially the Tanaka ones, so it must have been damaged before he tried to use it.”

_The teleporter..._

“Is he going to be okay?”

_The Wall Man!_

“It roughed him up a bit, but for now we still don’t suspect any internal injury.  He has virtually no medical history, save a few broken bones in his youth.  We plan to run further tests to make sure we didn’t miss anything, since he has yet to wake up after a week.”

_A WEEK?_

A shifting of feet.  A warm hand on his head, oddly calming to him despite how much he had come to hate people touching his hair.   _I’m not a kid!_ It was the nice-sounding lady again.  “Is there anyone we can call for him?”

The doctor let out a sad sigh.  “He has parents listed as next-of-kin, but the contact information must be out of date.  We’re still trying to find them.”

_Had he been here a week without anyone..._

“Doctor, I forgot to mention--I found this tattoo on his inner arm.  Have you ever seen anything like it?  It looks fresh.”  He felt a gloved hand stroke low over the inside of his arm and he tampered down an involuntary shiver.

_Tattoo?_

“Kids these days.  Let’s process it and see if any matches pop up.”

The lady turned his arm and he felt the flash of a camera behind his eyelids.  Their footsteps receded, followed by the final sound of a door sliding closed from its wall compartment.  Thinking it safe, he tried to open his eyes.

As the first blurs of light registered through his resistant eyelids, tremors wracked his body.   _Oh god, what have I done?_ He’d been in the hospital for a week.  The teleporter may or may not have worked--he could be practically anywhere, not to mention he’d missed a ton of work...  

_Okay, before you panic, let’s take a look around._

Gross crusties pasted parts of his eyelids together but they finally opened all the way under duress, everything looking seriously blurry.  Aside from the boring white walls, the window to the hallway revealed people outfitted in scrubs carrying medical equipment and tech screens.

_Yep, I’ve gone and put myself in the hospital._

He gingerly craned his neck to glance down at this supposed tattoo.  On the inside of his right forearm Shouyou saw a series of fresh punctures in his skin, forming four groupings of pointillist lines. While one group of lines were perfectly parallel, the remaining three looked like a series of pretty waves, all seeming to move in different directions.  If he wasn’t so freaked out, he might’ve even thought it looked cool.

Instead, his mind tried to rationalize just how in the hell that tattoo could’ve gotten there.

He tried to focus on something else to calm down from his little predicament.   _Work!  Work is boring_ \-- and after missing so much of it without notice, his boss might have already given him the can!

_Great subject change, Shou!_

_Maybe this is the opportunity I needed all along_ , he then thought optimistically.  He’d let his waiter gig string him along through his life, the days, months, years passing in a blur as he was allegedly figuring out his next steps.  Maybe now he’d have the impetus to look for something new, something to give him purpose.

It just had to involve volleyball somehow, he knew it.

The possibilities swirled in his brain as he waited for the doctor so he could get out of here.

But the doctor never returned.

Instead, a cacophony of heavy, rushed footsteps in the hallway tore him from his thoughts just as a squadron of heavily armed soldiers stomped into his room, forming an intimidating wall that overwhelmed his vision.

Shouyou had never seen soldiers like these before, altogether different from the pudgy cops on maze patrol.  These guys were outfitted with big, serious metallic armor plates covering their upper bodies, reaching above their necks to seamlessly connect into large helmets that illuminated their faces, turning the soldiers’ irises an ominous blue.

The group stared at him, and he stared back, unable to form words at the absurdity of it all.  With all of the eyes on him, he pulled the sheets more securely over himself despite the pain that lashed his muscles with his movements, whatever good it did.

He mustered the courage to address his first and only hospital visitors, “What exactly is going on--”

The lead soldier, face severe and stature even bigger than the Wall Man, barked into his com device, interrupting Shouyou’s wind-up, “The subject is awake.  What should we do, Mr. President?”

His eyes blew wide and he scuttled back on the hospital bed, adrenaline blazing through his arteries, the robotic beeping going faster, _faster_.  Someone-- _the President_ \--on the other end must have spoken, since the soldier said some more words.   _To the President._

“Yessir.  Right away, sir.”

The big guy nodded, and a less huge soldier (though that didn’t say much) stepped forward to roughly grab at Shouyou’s right wrist through his big, sticky gloves to yank out his various IVs and monitors.  The beeping flatlined.

Shouyou tried to pull his arm away from his clutches, punctuating his efforts with a, “Hey, what are you doing?” but he was no match for the determined soldier.  He panicked, his mouth spilling out his thoughts in a floodgate of high-pitched exclamations, “H-hey!  You can’t do this!  Where’s the doctor?”

As if he had never spoken at all, two more soldiers approached and dispensed his bedding, hauling him up by his armpits.  He kicked and yelled, all-consuming fear and bright bursts of pain conjuring tears in his eyes that cascaded down his reddened cheeks.

Somewhere behind him, another soldier produced a syringe and all Shouyou felt was a prick in his neck before darkness descended once more.

\--

“Welcome back, Kageyama, Oikawa.  I trust your wormhole voyage was pleasant.”

“Thank you, sir.  It was, sir,” the duo barked in unison, bowing to Dr. Ittetsu Takeda, their mainland supervisor.  The man was short, with messy black hair and dorky, wire-thin glasses; he epitomized the outward appearance of nerd that made Tobio a target of merciless bullying in school.   _Well, that was_ one _of the reasons…_

Takeda smirked at the two before leading them towards the executive offices.  “Commander Ukai has already briefed the President, and he would like to personally thank you for your discovery of the new evil.”

Tobio looked around in surprise.  “Where’s Dr. Yachi?”

“Who?” replied their supervisor.

“Figures.”

The three walked down the moneyed, well-lit carpeted hallway in silence to a set of closed double doors, containing intricate carved patterns befitting of the office of the President.  At the center of each door, the seal of the Earth was carefully carved, surrounded by the crests of a few key allies and the first exoplanetary colonies.  

Before relativistic propulsion and Einstein-Rosen bridges solved the inertia problem that had stymied interstellar travel, all of humanity had apparently been confined to Earth.  Shivers ran up and down Tobio’s spine at the thought of being stuck on Earth his whole life _._ Each of the hundreds of extrasolar planets humans had colonized were ruled by their own local figureheads, a hierarchical Galactic system with the Earth President at the very top.

Of course, expanding humanity’s space footprint came with a whole host of other problems.  New species of aliens entered humanity’s purview, and eventually enough threats piled up from every corner of the Milky Way and beyond for humans set aside their differences and band together in the face of common enemies.  Humans still had their problems, though… _yeah, in that most of them suck ass._

The entire Galaxy, too, was once ruled under a single governance thousands of years ago, but the prejudiced disparity of resources supplied by the central Galactic government bred resentment that tore it all apart.   _Billions_ died in the ensuing wars that lasted nearly a thousand years.

The double doors swung open, granting the trio admittance to one of the most lavish offices Tobio had ever seen.   _All this pomp and circumstance for a pompous asshole._

This high above the Earth’s surface in the President’s main command orbit, the office’s wall-sized window opposite the double doors let in little reflected light from Earth, the room largely lit by hovering neutrino flux pods.  Several dozen people clustered around various broadcasting signals ensconced all over the walls, chatting animatedly.  A desk set in front of the massive window dwarfed the office space, behind which sat the esteemed Earth President.

“Welcome, my brave and _fearsome_ discoverers.”

Tobio held back his scowl hearing the sarcasm in the president’s voice as he bowed with Oikawa and Dr. Takeda.  “It is an honor, Mr. President.”

“Yes, yes,” President Kei Tsukishima replied dismissively with a wave of his hand, and stood from his perch behind the desk, silencing the room.  The commander in chief wore a clean navy blue power suit, with a red power tie and-- _hipster glasses?_ \--refracting light into a pair of shrewd eyes.  The president’s bored looking expression seemed ill-suited to the situation at hand, but then again, _maybe that’s just his face…_

“Thanks to Commander Ukai’s team, we have confirmed the presence of the evil purported to return every five thousand years.”  He paused to adjust his glasses, waiting for the surprised whispering to cease.  For some, this may have been their first exposure to the news.  “On the scouting ship that found the evil, I introduce to you all, Tobio Kageyama, Tooru Oikawa, and their supervisor, Dr. Ittetsu Takeda.”

The room broke out in applause.  Tobio rolled his eyes, thinking Dr. Yachi should be here in his stead, but she might have combusted in the presence of all these cocky bigwigs.  The president looked around, king of the castle, until the clapping abated.

“No one is more familiar with the details of its discovery than these three.  Moving forward, we will keep them close as consultants in the event we uncover any worrying changes.”  The President eyed him as he spoke, the underlying threat of his words adding some new tension to Tobio’s shoulders.

“I have called upon a few individuals that might direct our next course of action.  General Ushijima, if you would, please.”

At the president’s introduction, a man dressed in full military regalia stepped forward.  His perfectly pressed coat boasted many medals and ribbons, the meaning of which Tobio was totally oblivious.   _He probably earned them by killing people, for fuck’s sake._ His strict attire matched the stern set of his eyes and mouth, but only a hard man could survive as the leader of the Earth and human colony military force.

The forces under his purview included the type of scouting mission that characterized Tobio’s previous assignment.  Scouts had the hardware needed to sniff out potential threats, relaying anything odd to aggressive armed crafts that themselves could rapidly address the problem.  Most scouting crafts still relied on low-speed (and short-lived) wormholes to keep their detectors from getting destroyed, but astrophysicists had no problem predicting where the portals would pop up next.

“Our forces are stronger than ever.  In the last fifty years alone, we have weaponized weak particle physics to rapidly produce gamma-rays, enabling us to quickly and efficiently wipe out enemy forces at great distances.  I am confident in our ability to sequence an attack that will destroy the enemy source before it comes within a thousand light years of our planet.”

Tobio looked around and saw several talking heads nodding in agreement, chins high and smiles wide; but not everyone was on the same page.  Different book, really.

An unassuming man with wiry, silvery hair stepped forward, interrupting what Tobio was sure would have been a wonderful speech attesting to the size of the General’s dick.  The man stood out in the room, what with his thick, flowy robes that flirted with the floor as he moved.  His robes were woven in shades of brown and red, accented by a fine gold overlay in pretty patterns that Tobio thought looked like fractals.  His robes contrasted sharply with his worn-in pedestrian boots, plain black pants, and poplin white shirt which was open enough to reveal a smattering of freckles on the man’s neck.

“I beg your pardon Mr. President, General, but if this is indeed the true evil that returns every five thousand years, we must heed the advice of our predecessors.  This is the only resurgence event for which we have clear and concise documentation describing exactly how the evil was destroyed!  It wasn’t with lasers and guns, Mr. President, it was with the fifth element--”

_What’s with this “fifth element”?_

“Things are a lot different now than they were five thousand years ago, Father Sugawara.  Five thousand years ago, our firepower had not been battle-tested in a great Galactic war--”

“Evil begets evil, General Ushijima!   _Shooting at the evil will only make it stronger!_ ” the father argued, nearly shouting, face flushed with his effort.

“ _Enough,_ ” the president interrupted impatiently, glaring at the Father.  “On the matter of the previous event, if it indeed happened as you described, my high-ranking priest agrees with the course laid out in General Ushijima’s plans.”  

Sugawara’s eyes wandered over the so-called priest with obvious skepticism, grimacing for the duration of President Tsukishima’s little dick wagging contest.   “As it happens, I have been well briefed of the history, Father.  I have every reason to believe we can defeat this evil without some cockamamie plan requiring some alleged supreme being you call the fifth element.  We don’t need the fifth element and a set of rocks to destroy whatever means us harm, if it ever was.  We need a supreme military force unlike the Galaxy has ever seen.  Please continue, General Ushijima.”

Tobio tuned out the heavy weight of the words, watching Father Sugawara closely.  The man looked defeated as he consulted some data only visible to him through his holographic implant, roughly swiping away with his fingers in front of him.

In order to classify new data, Tobio mused, one needed a training set.  Tobio knew this for a surety, and while shooting at whatever evil threatened them sounded like a great plan under normal circumstances, if someone had real data about the previous event five thousand years ago he could not, would not, ignore it.

Cheering erupted all around him, jolting him out of his thoughts.  Several other talking heads spoke words in tones of great import, but Tobio could not tear his focus away from Father Sugawara’s warning.  

 _What if he’s right?  Surely the military men don’t need_ me _to aim their militarized gamma-whats-its._

Soon the dozens packed into the president’s office filed out, including Oikawa, Dr. Takeda, and the distraught Father ahead of him.

As he watched the Father leave the room, Tobio made a decision, albeit a spiteful one.  He could either trust the fate of Earth to these assholes that ran around ignoring actual data, or he could figure out how to save the world, a world that never did anything for him, full of people he hated.  At least if the Father was right about all of this, Tobio could at least return and tell the president to his smug-ass face that he was dead wrong.  He could finally get an opportunity to tell these assholes with all the power that they could fuck right off.

Tobio quickly caught up with the man who seemed to be navigating the corridors on a worry-induced autopilot.  “Father--Father Sugawara?”

The man stopped in front of him and slowly turned, his robes swirling around him like a superhero cape.  “Yes, mister...”

“Kageyama.  Tobio Kageyama.”

“Kageyama.  I don’t mean to be rude, but I have some business to attend to--”

“Father, my team confirmed the presence of the evil under Commander Ukai.  I have seen all of the data and confirmed it’s unlike anything we’ve ever encountered before.  To combat this thing, whatever it is, we need every weapon in our arsenal.”  Tobio blushed at his poor choice of words, the flush spreading down his neck as he continued talking, “I--I want to hear more about what actually happened five thousand years ago.”

\----

Father Sugawara asked Tobio to meet him on Earth in two days’ time in the dead of night, specifying a building in sector 79 that Tobio had never been to before.  He promised Tobio he would explain everything, and they would brainstorm ways to convince the government that this course was essential for their survival.  

He tried to extend his wary trust to the Father-- _he’s a fucking priest, afterall--_ but Tobio slept little in anticipation of the meeting, even in the plush king-sized bed of his upscale hotel accommodations.  Tobio spent most of his days on ships with free room and board, proof positive of the phrase _you get what you pay for._ On the rare occasion he spent any time on Earth he splurged to finally have some goddamn privacy after weeks, months, years on ships full of busybodies (to say nothing of Oikawa).

After meeting at the Father’s designated location, Sugawara led Tobio deep into the annals of the building, quiet in a way maze corridors never were.  They came upon an inconspicuous door, last on the left of the long and silent hallway.  Upon further inspection, however, the door was packing some well-hidden security.  Tobio suspected that under the hasty paint job, solid iron-alloy secured whatever important keepsakes were stowed on the other side.

“I must admit, Kageyama, I haven’t been entirely honest with you,” Sugawara turned to face Tobio, his eyes dancing with mischief.

Cold fear shot its way up Tobio’s spine-- _did this nice son of a bitch just double-cross me?!--_ when Father Sugawara reached his hand under his robes to pull out a-- _oh_ \--a maser scanner.  Short-lived relief spread through Tobio, relaxing his tensed-up shoulders, until he realized that the Father’s particular model had a few illegal upgrades.  The kind of upgrades that allow thieves and burglars to confuse laser locking mechanisms, the kind that would grant them entry through this heavily armored door.

“Father, just what the fresh _hell--_ ”

The Father interrupted at a whisper, but not one directed at Tobio, apparently broadcasting through his (hopefully secured) implant.  “We are in position.  Ready for phase two.”  After his transmission, he bent over and began configuring the scanner to the door.

The sound of a different door cracking open further up the hallway echoed in waves around the hard edges of the hall and scared the shit out of Tobio.  Freaking out about getting caught with a highly illegal lock-breaker, which was _actively breaking a lock_ jesus _christ_ , Tobio spun around, hands up, to meet the eyes of their narcs.

“Hi!... uhh… it’s not what it looks like!” he stammered awkwardly.   _Good one, Tobio._

“It better not be,” growled an angry-looking man with a mop of brown hair and tanned skin, eyeing Tobio standing directly behind Sugawara who was still bent over at the door.  The four men that emerged were dressed for the occasion in tactical pants, tall military-issue boots and streamlined, armored chest plates.  The shortest of the bunch wore a full com helmet that failed to hide his two-tone hair and appraising, cat-like yellow eyes.  The other two men were tall and jacked, one with wide, owlish eyes surrounded by a shock of salt-and-pepper hair, the other, with black hair sticking up in various directions, shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

“Ahaha, Daichi, it’s okay, it’s just the nerd Suga told us about.  Hey Kenma, you finally have a compatriot!” spoke the owl man.

… _Friends of Sugawara?  Who the fuck--_

“Compatriot?  I didn’t know your vocabulary extended that far,” quipped two-tone.

“EL OH EEEEL, Kou, he got you!”

“Did you just _say_ el oh el, Tetsu?”

“Guys, will you shut the fuck up?” the angry man, Daichi, whisper-shouted.  The man glared at Tobio and pushed him aside, taking the Father in his arms for a quick kiss.

“Is phase two code for _base_ two?  As in, second base?  Get it?”  The tall pair cackled at owl man’s stupid joke and, after hearing a sequence of beeps coming from the lock-breaker, nodded at each other with a sudden seriousness and removed from their ankle holsters two high-powered, automatic electric pistols.

_What the fuck--_

“I’m sorry Kageyama,” the priest exclaimed, “there’s no time for introductions, just trust me!  I will explain everything!”  The door in front of Sugawara released with a clack and swung open inside, revealing a dark, musty corridor and a squadron of armed guards.  Daichi heaved Sugawara and Tobio away, slamming them flush against the end of the hallway outside the margins of the once-locked door while the two crazy idiots fired into traffic with deadly accuracy.  The fight ended before it really began, the unscathed duo proudly blowing on the ends of their pistols.

_Did those dumbasses just fucking kill a bunch of--_

“Recording is down, the hallway is clear of warm bodies.  Let’s go,” remarked two-tone.

Daichi dragged a stunned and sputtering Tobio into the new hallway with Sugawara leading the charge, owl man and tall-smirk-guy flanking either side with weapons drawn, two-tone pulling up the rear.  At this point, Tobio entered Full Panic Mode (TM) but his visual acuity worked well enough for him to make out a series of barracks-turned-prison cells.  The group approached one of the cells, stopping in front of a multi-plated glass window that was in all likelihood soundproofed.

Father Sugawara pulled Tobio to the glass pane and directed his attention to its captive.  Beyond the cell window, a young man sat huddled in the far corner of the cell, knees bent and arms folded over on top of them.  His toes looked devoid of circulation, appearing unnaturally white and curling every so often out of reflex.  A shock of matted orange hair obscured the prisoner’s face, none the wiser that a motley team worked outside his walls to free him.  The corridors were freezing cold, yet the young man had on nothing more than a tattered hospital gown.  His hands gripped his forearms so tightly that Tobio stepped closer to the glass on some protective impulse.  After a moment, Tobio turned back to the Father, awaiting _one hell_ of an explanation.

Father Sugawara began in a rushed but sure voice while his allies continued working on the cell door.  “Five thousand years ago, my ancient predecessor, Father Vito Cornelius, documented what occurred when he helped take down the previous iteration of evil.  Father Cornelius ensured that the recipe for destroying it would be passed down from generation to generation, priest to priest, in the hopes that when the evil returned, we would be equipped to handle it once more.  The only way to combat this evil is with a special ritual.”  Sugawara paused, looking like he expected Tobio to scoff at his explanation.  Tobio maintained his silence, and the priest continued.  

“This ritual requires the four elemental stones,” he held up four fingers in front of Tobio, “and the conductor, the fifth element,” now all five fingers.  “In this sacred ritual, the fifth element, a supreme being, can summon the power of the four elements via the four stones: earth, water, air, and fire, to destroy the darkness of evil.  I have blueprints of a safe temple we can use, its Galactic coordinates, and even a step-by-step written manual thanks to the genius of my predecessors, but we _need_ the fifth element!”  

The Father looked back at the young man inside the room, worry turning down the gentle curve of his mouth.  “And he’s locked up, inaccessible, thanks to our very own government who believes he is worthless,” he spat in disgust.

_The fifth element… is a person?  If so, why lock him up if they don’t believe he will work…?  And how do they even know…_

As if he read his mind, Sugawara continued, “The details of identifying the fifth element have never been made public, and those who knew about her died thousands of years ago.  The tell-tale sign is the tattoo on this young man’s right wrist, which upon its discovery at the hospital, triggered the government into securing him for their own purposes.  Those purposes, I’m afraid… I don’t quite understand myself.”

Tobio returned his gaze to the huddled young man, who no longer cowered behind his folded arms; a pair of wide brown eyes emerged from his self-made cocoon, staring back at Tobio.  The man’s face seemed to hold all the world’s confusion, sorrow, and dismay, his cheeks streaked with tracks of dried tears.  The prisoner trained his gaze on Sugawara next, who offered him a gentle smile, putting his hand on the glass between them.  The young man’s face scrunched up in confusion, glaring at the two of them as if seeing a mirage just as the quartet got the door open.

The Father finished quietly.  “We have to get him out.  We have to get the fifth element to the temple in order to defeat the evil, otherwise the Earth and its trillions of inhabitants are doomed.  And unfortunately, it seems we have to do this without the blessing of our esteemed government.”

\----

The team ushered the resistant fifth element out of the prison much in the same way they entered, jimmying locks and guns blazing.  Worried the government would suspect Father Sugawara of foul play, the group decided to repurpose Tobio’s lush and private hotel quarters as a temporary hide-out to make their charge a little less conspicuous.

_In for a penny, in for a pound._

Tobio kept glancing down at the trembling young man who looked every bit as scared and confused as before, dwarfed in the sweater that Tobio lent him at the prison.  Sugawara had entered the cell alone, whispering words Tobio couldn’t hear to convince their new charge that he was, indeed, being rescued.  The young man had kept glancing back at Tobio through the glass, his expression relaxing little as he eventually let Sugawara take his hand.  Before he knew it, Tobio had stepped forward and shucked his sweater for the shivering young man.

Now the orange-haired fifth element walked between Sugawara and Tobio as they hustled towards Tobio’s room, ascending to the top floor via the building’s elevators, Kozume fuzzing out the cameras en route.  Once inside, the prisoner made for the far corner of the room, sitting with his knees bent, shielding his body.  Sugawara approached him slowly and kneeled down while the others made themselves comfortable on the various furniture of Tobio’s suite.

“Your name is Shouyou Hinata, is that right?  Will you tell me what happened?” Sugawara prodded gently.

The young man nodded, shivers redoubling their efforts to wrack his entire body.  He glanced around at his rescuers, seeming to do some mental math to determine their trustworthiness but coming up short.  “I told you, I- I don’t know… I woke up in the hospital, and then those j-jerks… dragged me in-into that cell.”

Sugawara pulled a blanket from the king size bed behind him to give to Hinata.  The young man nodded gratefully and covered himself up, but his shivers still didn’t cease.  

“Are you hungry?”  The priest turned around until his eyes met Tobio’s.  “Can you order some room service?”  At this, Hinata lit up imperceptibly, Sugawara one step closer to earning the group his trust through a loophole via his stomach.

“Ohh- oh oh me too!  Can I get room service?”

“Me too!  Me too!”

Tobio sighed, at the idiot duo, at the fifth element, at this whole fucking situation, and tapped into the com to page an order for a bunch of gourmet cheeseburgers, a comfort meal most likely to appeal to a hungry and scared prisoner.  Also to himself, if he was being honest.

From his perch on the floor, Sugawara continued talking to Hinata.  “I know this is really strange, Hinata, but I promise it will all make sense soon.  The people who took you aren’t bad people, but they’re obligated to follow some really misguided orders.”

Hinata cringed at that, shrinking further into the corner.  “The--the one soldier, it sounded like he was talking to the president.  Why would the _president_ want to lock me away?  I’m just a boring old waiter.”

A flash of surprise crossed Sugawara’s face before he reigned it in and held out his hand.  “Let’s just try to relax a little before talking more about that.  For now please try to believe me in that we mean you no harm, Hinata.  We’re here to help you.  Wouldn’t you rather be with us than locked up in that freezing prison cell?”

At that Hinata turned his head and locked eyes with Tobio.  Hinata relaxed his knees and dropped his arms during their mutual inspection, likely finding the same stark confusion and fear he so clearly felt in Tobio’s own expression.   _You’re not the only one being dragged into this shit storm._

Hinata kept his acceptance quiet, looking back at Sugawara and nodding.  

In the silence that persisted, Tobio tore his gaze from Hinata and peered around the room at this… this Team Suga, anger on Hinata’s behalf souring his stomach.  They’d effectively re-kidnapped him, holding him hostage in an entirely different type of cell by not telling him his role in all of this.  “How are we supposed to accept you’re all the good guys without knowing who the fuck you are?” Tobio accused loudly, startling Hinata a little.   _Shit._

Father Sugawara stood up and looked to each of his friends in turn, partially shielding Hinata from the rest of the room.  “You’re right, you’re right.  I suppose some introductions are in order.  I am Father Koushi Sugawara, descendent of a long line of priests meant to maintain contact with the pious Mondoshawans.”  Tobio saw Hinata sit up straighter at his words, watching Sugawara with new surprise etched on his face.   _Is that supposed to mean something?_

The priest continued.  “Over there is Daichi Sawamura, strategic expert and superior second baseman.”  The angry man waved at Tobio and Hinata with a grin, backed by a chorus of cackling from tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.  “Kenma Kozume, former astrophysicist turned hacker.”  Two-tone nodded.  “Tetsurou Kuroo, armed-and-dangerous lackey, and Koutarou Bokuto, other armed-and-dangerous lackey.”  The so-called lackeys let loose a series of protests at their apparent demotion, Sugawara smiling back at them in jest.  

“So how did, err, all of… you…  end up working together?” Tobio returned, gesturing at them vaguely with his hands.

“Well,” Bokuto began.  “A priest walks into a bar…” Kuroo interrupted the man with a shove.  Tobio sighed loudly, frustrated by their continued antics, but saw that the shitty joke brought a little smile to Hinata’s face, as if he couldn’t help it.

Sugawara replied, laughter elevating his pitch.  “They were all close friends of mine from college.  I was roommates with Tetsu my freshman year.”  He smiled softly at the memory, glancing at Kuroo who smiled back.  “I trust no one else for such an important mission, and it so happens we all as a unit have skills--”

“--a particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career--” Bokuto earned another shove from Kuroo as Hinata let out a small bark of laughter, quickly disguising his reaction with a palm slapped over his mouth.  Tobio looked at the young man in surprise.   _Was that supposed to be a joke?_

“Anyways, I called, and they answered.” Sugawara finished as a _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_ reverberated throughout the room.  They shuffled around quietly to hide, Sawamura gently urging a reluctant Hinata to hide with him in the closet, the others making their way to huddle in the spacious en suite bathroom so Tobio could answer the door without garnering suspicion from the outside world.

_Seven burgers for one guy?  Not suspicious at all._

He tipped the busboy, pushing along a whizzing hovercart laden with rich-smelling foods covered by heat domes.  Hinata emerged from the closet to stand close to Tobio, accepting one of the plates of food.  Tobio sat next to the fifth element at the suite’s table, a chair buffer between them and everyone else.

Shortly after they all sat down, a comfortable dinner silence descended on the group as everyone occupied themselves with eating.  Hinata wolfed down his burger and fries in short order and began to sneakily pick at Tobio’s remaining fries when his head was turned.

“Hey, what the fuck?” Tobio yelled, catching him in the act, at his limit for the entire year.

Hinata defiantly popped the fry bounty into his mouth.  “I’m sorry but I’m still so hungry!”

“Well, so am I!  And I lent you my sweater!  And broke you out of prison!  Haven’t I given you enough, you little shrimp?!”

“Shrimp?  Well, uh, _you’ve_ got a scary face!”  Hinata replied, blushing as fries spittled out of his mouth in a mess of partially chewed potato and ketchup.

_This guy?  This dumbass is the supreme being?  The fifth element to save the entire world?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, come on. I can't see Leeloo's hair anymore without thinking of everyone's favorite volleyball-playing tangerine.
> 
> 5/10/17 made some major revisions to this and future chapters.  
> 8/18/17 fixed some grammatical/typographical errors


	2. Never Without My Permission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama wakes up, and gets in trouble.

“Father Sugawara, can I ask something?”  Shouyou had just stuffed himself and moved over to flop on the bed after feeling a sudden, piercing fatigue.

After Sugawara’s introduction, Shouyou had a sneaking, albeit outlandish, suspicion as to what this was all about.  There was only one set of priests that prided themselves on their alliance with the Mondoshawans, and it was the very same set of priests that saved the world thousands of years ago.  Shouyou loved hearing the bedtime story about how Father Vito Cornelius and his rowdy band of saviors had defied all odds (and the evil Zorg) to save the world.  Now those stories kept him company when he was all alone at night, turning in early to get enough sleep before work.

He’d seen the news and overheard conversations about it at the café, how the evil was expected to return soon.   _What do the Earth President, a Mondoshawan priest, and the correct century all have in common?_

But he still didn’t understand why _he_ was imprisoned by a bunch scary, armored monsters, and why he was subsequently rescued by an eccentric special ops team that included a scowling lanky giant with blue eyes whose presence put Shouyou at ease.

Sugawara sat down in front of Shouyou on the bed and gently brushed his wayward orange hair off of his forehead.  Shouyou bristled a little at the gesture, but a part of him sought out the comforting touch anyway _._  “What is it, Hinata?”  

“Does this have to do with the great evil?”

Sugawara’s hand stopped.  “Uh, actually, it does.”

Shouyou looked over at his unlikely ally in this, Mister Scowls, and noted the softening of his eyes, in-- _sympathy_?   _Does everyone know what’s going on but me?_  The Father continued speaking and petting his hair, and Shouyou let him.  “So you know the event is supposed to recur every five thousand years.”

Shouyou nodded.

Sugawara smiled sadly with his next bombshell.  “As it happens, the evil has returned.”

Shouyou felt his jaw drop.   _I knew it!_

Sugawara paused, looking around the room.  “It was my predecessor, Father Vito Cornelius, who was responsible for the evil’s destruction five thousand years ago.  As his descendent, all the details about the previous event that were not made public were passed down to me.”

“Alright, but that still doesn’t explain what I’m doing here?”  Shouyou sat up further, finding some purchase on the soft bed, nervously twisting the sheets between his hands.  Did they need him to use his agility to sneak around and find something?  Do something _illegal?_

_And… why did the president want_ me _?_

“I know how to identify the fifth element, Hinata.”

_Okay…_ “So, where is she?”

“Um, Hinata,” the priest shifted on the bed, looking away from Shouyou as if nervous.  Shouyou then felt the mattress dip next to him under Sawamura’s weight, the man placing a warm hand on Shouyou’s back before Sugawara continued.  Though he only just met these people, the man’s gesture soothed him.  

“See that tattoo on your arm?  Have you always had that?” Sugawara asked.

“Well, no,” Shouyou replied.  “But I’m sure loads of people have these tattoos--”

“No, Hinata, they don’t,” Sugawara interrupted.  “Hmmm… what else.  Are you athletic at all?”

“I played volleyball in high school--we went to nationals!  I’m really fast, but now I just play on a community team.  What does that have to do with anything?”

Sugawara ignored Shouyou’s question to ask yet another of him.  “Are you… are you happy, Hinata?”

Not expecting _that_ type of question, Shouyou looked down at his hands and found them unconsciously twisting about in his lap.  “I--I guess I am.  I’m… on my own, but I’m trying to figure things out.   I just need a chance,” he finished at a whisper.   _Why am I telling this stranger so much about me?_

Sugawara nodded knowingly, as if Shouyou passed some kind of test.  “We think the mark--tattoo--appears on the fifth element when they are… ready.”

_Say what?_

“The fifth element is one with superior athleticism and instinct, their purpose to save the world yet unrealized.  They are, aptly named, a _supreme being_.  The original fifth element, Leeloo Dallas, was engineered by the Mondoshawans, but we had believed the next fifth element would be her descendent.  You… you fit the mark, Hinata.  According to our databases, you have blood ties to Leeloo Dallas.”  

_I’m related to the fifth element?_

Sugawara continued, “The mark, that _tattoo_ you have on your arm, had appeared on the her after she was remade after a devastating accident, when her Mondoshawan envoy was attacked by the Mongolores.  You were in the hospital after using a faulty teleporter when the government found you, were you not?  I truly believe that you are the newest recipient of the gift, and the more I learn about you, the firmer my belief becomes.”  At that, Sugawara took Shouyou’s clammy hand.

Shouyou froze.   _Does that mean…_

“Me?” he squeaked, pointing at himself.

Sugawara nodded, the others in the room quiet sentries.  He looked over to his unwitting ally, finding his brows knit together over his blue eyes, his scowling face pinching in apparent concern.  The circles Sawamura rubbed on Shouyou’s back now did nothing to abate his cramping nausea.   _I’m the fifth element?  I have to save the world?  Everyone’s counting on… on…_

His stomach growled uncomfortably and he bolted for the bathroom to throw up whatever his body had not yet repurposed from his dinner.

\----

After Hinata returned from the bathroom, he crawled into bed and turned on his side, overwhelmed, shaking under a mass of covers.  Sugawara sat behind him, petting his hair like he did before breaking the news.

_Good news, kid, you’re the savior of the world.  No pressure._

Tobio approached Sawamura, the alleged expert strategist, to get some things straight.  “What’s the plan here?  People from the presidential briefing probably saw me talking to Sugawara, and they will piece together where I’ve been staying--”

“We will leave in the morning after the poor kid gets some rest.  I am confident Kenma has thrown the government sufficiently off our trail for now.”  Sawamura watched Kozume’s fingers twitch over an invisible keyboard at the suite’s dining table.  “They will know by now Hinata is missing, and will know we murdered to do so.”  Sawamura had the grace to cringe.  “We need to get off the Earth, retrieve the stones, and see if the evil’s signature or speed has changed.  The ritual must not be performed too early; this is where you come in, Kageyama.”

Though he would have liked more say in the matter, Tobio knew he was on the hook for this mission.  Surprisingly, the government’s own actions bolstered his acceptance of Sugawara’s theory, and he nodded by way of reply.

_Why detain the fifth element if he is really meaningless?_

It seemed the government wanted to work out its own heroic plan for destroying the evil, while deterring any alternatives.   _But why put all your eggs in one basket?_

It didn’t make any sense.

Sugawara stood from Hinata’s bedside and quietly addressed his team in Tobio’s cramped luxury suite.  “We should all get some rest.  Tomorrow begins phase three, retrieval of the stones.”  Everyone nodded, Bokuto and Kuroo branching off to dig through Tobio’s closets for extra  bedding.  Kozume and Kuroo squeezed together on the couch, while the priest and his strategist made due with a pallet on the floor.  Bokuto occupied the rest of the floorspace, sprawled obnoxiously and starting to snore.

Tobio sighed as the odd-man-out and analyzed the unmoving lump nestled on one side of the oversized bed.  Seeing no other option, turned off the lights and snuck towards the other side of the bed, stepping over sleeping bodies and avoiding limbs poking out from the couch cushions to crawl under the large duvet.  He felt anxious with Hinata so close, blushing at his inexperience at having never shared a bed with anyone before.

Some time later, when the room descended into a nighttime silence save Bokuto’s rhythmic snoring, Tobio was still wide awake, mind a busy newsreel, scrolling as fast as the encroaching evil.  Buried under the weight of his thoughts, Tobio startled at a sudden movement next to him.  He turned his head and saw Hinata rolling over, his features illuminated by a shaft of moonlight pouring through the undocked UV shade.  Much to his surprise, the fifth element was wide awake, wearing a similar expression as when Tobio first laid eyes on him in the prison, his eyes glassy but tinged with stark terror.

Tobio couldn’t help the shock he felt when the young man began to whisper, stuttering under the weight of the world recently placed on his slight shoulders.  “I- I know you don’t really know me, b-but… you s-seem to get it a-and… I feel so alone…”  The levy broke, his eyes squinting closed as an urgent rush of tears poured from them.  Hinata clutched the sheet, uncontrollably shaking.

A heady feeling came upon Tobio.   _I’ve never had to comfort another person before,_ especially not a bright beacon of a young man who could find it in him to laugh at the lackey’s poor attempt at humor after being royally screwed over by his own government, no less.  It was a night of firsts, but he had no time to make any sense of his emotions.  He mimicked Sawamura’s earlier actions and awkwardly shuffled towards Hinata in the bed to rub circles on his back, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks and neck.  

At Tobio’s initiation of contact, Hinata surged forward, abandoning all propriety to clutch Tobio’s bed shirt, crying into his chest.  “P-please, don’t l-leave me, too…”

Tobio froze, even more shock and fear and _warmth_ filling his stomach, managing a whispered “idiot” (towards himself or Hinata, he wasn’t sure) as he allowed the contact.  He slowly wrapped his arms around Hinata, holding him close as the young man cried himself to sleep.

\----

“Mr. President, our facial recognition analytics turned up a hit.  We have footage of the prisoner escaping with what looks like an entire troupe of highly trained personnel, but we lose them in the mazes--”

“Any IDs on his comrades, Yamaguchi?”

“Negative, all shadows, except for one.”

“Who?”

“Tobio Kageyama.”

_Surprise, surprise_.  Kei had watched as the priest piqued Kageyama’s interest during his all-hands meeting with the general, and he’d bet his life on Koushi Sugawara’s involvement in the theft of the fifth element.  Kei had sent shadows to follow the priest but the slithery snake of a man somehow shook them all.

“Keep scans running for our little traitor.  Is Tooru Oikawa still on Earth?  Bring him to me.”

\----

Tobio woke at the squeak of a door, a high-pitched wailing breaking him from an unusually restful night’s sleep.  Déjà vu punched him in the face, transporting him back to his cold, cramped ship compartment.  A few things were different, though.  For one, the bed was _heaven_ in its softness, natural sunlight kissing his skin…

....and two, he was all wrapped up with a warm body.  

_Must be a dream..._

He gave himself a moment to enjoy the feel of the warmth next to him, holding it close to his chest, face buried in and smelling... his hair, sweet with the scent of sweat and the man’s own natural homely fragrance.

_Wait… smelling_ his…

Tobio jolted awake, pushing away his bed companion who had, during the night, drooled on his bed shirt.   _Gross._

A searing heat suffused his cheeks as he watched Hinata slowly wake, Tobio’s hands still pushing at his shoulders.  Wide, brown-- _beautiful_ \--eyes blinked awake, struggling against the haze of sleep, his orange hair endearingly mussed around his face.  For a moment he looked completely at ease, but Tobio soon felt tension under his hands as the events of the last few weeks caught up to the young man’s consciousness.  Tobio fought an impulse to pull up the duvet and shield them from outside world, to keep that… that soft smile around for just a little bit longer.

And then he felt anger at himself that he entertained such a thought in the first place.

Tobio bolted from the bed without a word, ignoring the curious looks Sugawara’s wide-awake (and blatantly noisy) team sent his way as he stomped to the bathroom and slammed home the offending squeaky door.  He slumped to the floor and clutched the black strands of his hair.

While his interactions with the human race were largely self-limited, he learned enough to know a thing or two about his untested preferences.  Despite entering university younger than most, he was not immune to the laws of attraction; he just never found a girl as cute as some of his confusing childhood (male) crushes.

_As cute as... Hinata._

Tobio had never officially come out to anyone, not even to his long-standing human supplement Oikawa, and he’d resigned himself to a life of disentangling data especially after what… what had happened.   _Don’t think about it, don’t think about it..._

Hinata had just been through the wringer and the last thing he needed were Tobio’s disgusting thoughts.  While their circumstances made them sudden allies, that didn’t mean the young man wanted _that_.   _Fuck._  He curled his arms around his waist, shaking, anxiety chewing up his insides; he worried over the fear Hinata must have felt, waking up to some stranger _smelling his fucking hair._  Why did he have to be like this?

He breathed deeply, in and out, to simmer down his vortex of emotions: anger for putting Hinata in that position, disgust for stooping that low, and shame for… for wanting _more_.  He didn’t understand what to do, and he was just frustrated enough with all of this bullshit to irrevocably sour his mood.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK…._

“Why can’t anyone leave me the _FUCK_ alone?” he yelled in response, staying put in front of the door.

“Hate to disturb your existential breakdown, home slice, but coffee gets things going, nomsayin’?”

Tobio sighed in disgust, thanking the fabric of spacetime that it wasn’t Father Sugawara trying to give him some type of pep talk.

He stood and opened the door, pushing past Bokuto and his timely bowels to sit at the suite’s large table, eyes downcast, feeling several pairs of eyes tracking his movements.   _They can fuck right off._

After a few minutes, Sugawara cleared his throat in the room’s uncomfortable silence to gain everyone’s attention.  “We leave shortly for phase three.  Kenma?”

While Tobio meant to pay attention to two-tone, his peripheral vision seemed laser-focused on Hinata, who was perched on the side of the bed, shoulders slumped forward and facing away from the room.

Kozume began quietly, “In one hour, my script will check Kageyama out of the hotel and mark that he has paid in full, wiping his name for an alias while my little polynomial distracts the mainframe.  I pinged Akaashi last night and he will meet us at the rendezvous point in two hours, the coordinates for which I have sent to your implants.”

Sugawara nodded, “Thank you Kenma.  If you would, Kageyama, we need to let Hinata borrow a few more of your clothes before we head out.  We can’t return to his apartment to retrieve anything, for obvious reasons, and all of our stuff is on the ship--”

“Yeah, fine,” Tobio tersely interrupted, “my bag is in the closet.”  

In the remaining hour, the group prepared to leave, a few grabbing quick showers as Kozume began preemptively scrambling nearby tracking hardware to conceal their departure.  Packed up and ready to go, small bag over his shoulder that fit all of his worldly possessions, Tobio looked back for a few fleeting seconds at his one allowable creature comfort before closing the door with a resounding clang.

\----

Shouyou walked between Sawamura and Sugawara down a lower maze corridor, drowning in Kageyama’s clothes and half-assedly disguised with a beanie and sunglasses.  They walked with the flow of traffic, blending in with the other commuters as much as possible alongside Kozume’s scrambling.

On their quiet but tense walk, Shouyou’s mind had a veritable library of topics to stew over--namely, his newfound role in saving the entire world--but he couldn’t help but ignore all of that to pick at the mixed signals he kept receiving from the brooding, angry man walking in front of him-- _Kageyama_ , Sugawara had called him.

Among all of his, well, kidnappers, he felt the most comfortable with Kageyama.  The man seemed to be an outsider, too; he was apparently dragged into this whole mess just like Shouyou and showed more empathy than the others.  Instead of just staring at him back at the prison, Kageyama stripped his sweater off without asking, and forced everyone back at the hotel to introduce themselves.  He even ordered him food, and while Shouyou did steal his fries, Kageyama was a begrudging good sport about it and eventually shared the rest with him.

And during what may have been one of the worst moments of his whole life, Kageyama held him while he cried, but when they woke, Kageyama had pushed him away and bolted, leaving him cold and lonely again.   _Why does everyone always… leave?_ He worried his hands in front of him in confusion because all this morning he’d repeatedly found Kageyama staring at him with those piercing blue eyes, the man turning away quickly once caught.

Beside him, Sawamura whispered to him and Sugawara, “Almost there.  We will have to take separate elevators to get to the ground level.”

After another few minutes of fake-casual walking, the group came upon a series of substantial elevator queues.  They separated, with Kageyama and Bokuto entering one queue, Sugawara, Sawamura, and Shouyou in another, and Kozume sticking close to Kuroo in a third.

“So… who is picking us up?” Shouyou whispered.

“Kou’s partner, Keiji Akaashi, owns a ship he uses to scavenge, restore, and re-sell unserviced satellites and parts in Earth’s outer graveyard orbit, among other things,” Sugawara explained  quietly.  “He makes a decent living and gets to tinker around on his ship for fun when Bokuto is away on a job.”

“Why are we going down in the elevator if we’re getting picked up by a spaceship?  Don’t all ships take off from the upper levels?”

Sawamura audibly smirked next to him but kept his voice down.  “You’ll see.  The government closely monitors the airspace around those upper levels; to get off Earth, we have to be stealthy.”

“But I thought the temple we need is on Earth?” Shouyou replied, well versed on his favorite bedtime story.

Sugawara smiled.  “You sure know your history, Hinata.  Most people know about the original temple, but since the news broke of the evil’s return, humans have swarmed the sight en masse.  Though not destroyed, we have virtually no way of accessing it without being discovered, especially now that we are rogues, Hinata.  We have to tread carefully.  Fortunately, after the near-miss of the last ritual, the Mondoshawans built in some contingencies in case, say, humans self-destructed and destroyed the original temple.  They built viable ritual sites on a series of exoplanetary systems throughout the Galaxy as failsafes.”

They finally arrived at the head of the queue, nothing between them and the elevator’s see-through, cylindrical shaft entrance.

The shaft opened, its curved door sliding into the wall just as the floor of the elevator slipped into place.  The three stepped on the surface, about-faced, and held each other’s hands as the shaft door closed, sealing them inside.  Sugawara keyed the ground floor into the elevator’s built-in touchpad on his right, and both he and Sawamura tightened their holds on Shouyou’s hands as jet streams filled the shaft, conjuring a tornado of noise.  The floor beneath them vanished, the elevator’s gusty streams rapidly pushing them down the tube towards the ground floor, powerful enough to buffer them from slamming into the shaft’s walls.

Shouyou stepped off the elevator platform and listened to the door _shink_ behind him.  He peered around the dank elevator hub, adjusting his now disoriented clothes that he’d borrowed from Kageyama.  These ground levels were poorly maintained, the upper echelons of the hierarchy preferring to be both literally and figuratively on top.

He also knew that these lower floors were one of the only ways out of the buildings, but they were scant used; all that awaited them outside was tons of refuse, obscured from view from the upper building floors by the opaque, polluted atmosphere.  

Shortly after their arrival, Kozume and Kuroo stepped out of a nearby elevator shaft, and the lot of them waited for Kageyama and Bokuto.  They clustered together, quiet except for the occasional grunt from Kozume, working hard to keep them out of Big Brother’s clutches.

As more and more time passed, Shouyou started pacing, Kuroo glancing worriedly at Kozume.  Suddenly, the short hacker spoke, breaking the anticipatory silence of the group, “ _Shit_.  Kageyama was spotted.”

_Oh god._

“When?”

“Just now.  I cracked the surveillance on the wrong elevator.   _Shit._  Now they know of Kou’s involvement.  They have to make a run for it.  We’ll have to get them later.”

“Keiji won’t leave without Kou.”

Kozume responded sharply, with as much emotion as Shouyou had heard from him thus far, “I _know_ , but it may be run or die, Tetsu.  Surveillance dispatched five units to either pick them up or kill them.  I haven’t decrypted the full order just yet.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, _five_?”

Shouyou caught Sawamura and Sugawara sharing a dark look.  A loaded second passed, Sugawara nodding decisively.

“Akaashi will understand.  We have to secure the fifth element.  He knows this.  Kou can handle himself. ”

_But can Kageyama…?_

With no other choice, their short-changed group took off towards the rendezvous point as Kozume patched into Bokuto’s com to warn them.  Shouyou’s nervous system went haywire with worry for Kageyama, debilitating his usually freakish agility, causing his footsteps to pound irregularly on the concrete below.   

He nearly tripped crossing the open threshold leading outdoors, halting at the hopeless sight before him.

_Nothing._  No plane, no ship, no dinky flying car--nothing.  Just a bunch of garbage, and Bokuto and Kageyama upstairs running for their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5/10/17 major revisions  
> 8/18/17 grammatical revisions


	3. My Costs Have Tripled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gunfight, and curry buns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really fun to write, as we are starting to get a bit more back-and-forth with our favorite idiot duo :) I went back and re-worked some of the previous chapters, fleshing out some details that I think add to the world as a whole. If you've already read chapters 1 and 2, the storyline or previous events haven't changed, but there's a bit more description of all the things floating around inside my head, including facets of the world and some more explanation of their everyday tech. Anyways, enjoy!

“Where the fuck is he, Suga?”

Sugawara stepped forward in the gross building alley to face the ire of the man who just… materialized from thin air.  The man was yet another stupidly tall person; Shouyou gauged he was about the same height as Kageyama with the same dark hair, just messier.  For someone tasked with saving the world, he looked a little too casual, face a little too relaxed.  Shouyou thought the man was handsome, if not bored looking.

“He, uh, was sniffed out and had to bolt before he could make his way down an elevator?” Suga replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.  “Kenma is tracking them, but we have to go before they find us, too--”

The man rolled his eyes and spun around, starting away at a jog, calling back at them over his shoulder, “Well?  Let’s go get him.   _Again_.”

Sugawara kept pace, arguing his case, “Keiji, we have to keep the fifth element safe--”

“I’m _not_ leaving without him, Suga.”

“ _Told yooouuu,_ ” Kuroo sing-songed to no one in particular.

_Did the quantum teleporter leave my brain behind somewhere?  Because there’s no--_

As if attuned to his thoughts, a large ship blinked into existence, squeezed into the dirty alley.  It startled Shouyou, and he reacted by jumping backwards into Sawamura, who started pushing him forward towards the ship.  Shouyou couldn’t help but gape at the impressive display before him.  

He had occasionally seen other aircraft whizzing by the windows of his café, but nothing that looked like _this_.  This… this was a supermodel in a sea of Mongolores.  The ship was matte black, all smooth and sleek lines, its surface unmarred by windows or doors.  The front formed the apex of a boomerang, the sides extending back as thin, sharp wings that looked like they could cut through spacetime itself.  The egg-shaped main cabin extended from the boomerang, tapering at the back of the ship with the wings.  The whole thing hovered with gusts of air bursting from its underbelly, blowing around garbage on the ground and whipping Shouyou’s hair all over his face.

His companions seemed totally undisturbed by this dramatic display, nonchalantly entering a bright red spotlight underneath the ship, only to disappear shortly thereafter.  While he was coming to trust these guys, he battled a bout of nausea thinking about what came next.

_I’ve… never flown before._

_Or left the Earth…_

… _And is that red light thing a…. teleporter?_

After seeing some of his… his _friends?_ disappear under the spooky red light, he dug his heels into the ground, the strategist behind him having none of it.  Sawamura shoved him under the light, its warm, gentle caress lulling him in the breezy alley.  He squeezed his eyes shut and started breathing in heavy, erratic bouts.  He waited for the sinking, stretching-- _pain_ \--that accompanied his unfortunate dance with the personal teleporter from just a few weeks back.   _It feels like forever ago..._

And waited…

Aaaaaaaand...

“Uhhh, Hinata?  Come now, quickly!”

Shouyou blinked his eyes open, finding himself inside the ship without muss or fuss, facing Sugawara who was gesturing wildly with his hands as if to say, _let’s get a move on!_

“Whoa!  It didn’t hurt?!” he exclaimed excitedly, stepping off the teleporter’s on-ship landing dock.

“Ahhh, right… your last experience… anyways, come get buckled in, Hinata.  We have to go!”  Sugawara directed him to a series of seats at the ship’s center and left him to his own devices.  He strapped himself in and looked around the ship’s interior, which somehow appeared even bigger from the inside.  The hull needn’t any windows, for he could _see through it_ wherever he pointed his eyes.  His eyes shot everywhere, below him to see the alley, all around him the nearby buildings, up, up, up to see the sky, the ship turning opaque again in his peripheral vision.

_Whoa._

Akaashi and Kozume situated themselves at the ship’s helm behind a main window that fully revealed itself under Shouyou’s eyes.  In front of them, the controls blinked and twinkled in a pallette of colors that danced onto the desk in front of them, on nearby monitors, and across their faces.

While Akaashi began tinkering with the controls, Shouyu heard Kozume giving rapid directions to Bokuto and Kageyama in the building.

_I almost forgot…_

In a whir, everyone else sat down in seats around him and the ship started to rumble in its pre-flight preparations, his thoughts back to Kageyama and his blue eyes.

He recognized the gloomy looks on his friends’ faces, those same gloomy looks his high school teammates had given him during particularly crappy practice sessions.  He let the wild, responsive burst of optimism bubble up inside him, and before he knew it, he clutched the armrests of his seat and shouted, “we’re _not_ gonna lose!” loud enough to reach everyone’s ears and then some.

Everyone stopped to stare, including Akaashi, who turned around in his pilot’s seat to reward him with a slight uptick of his mouth that some might call a smile.

“Yeah, kid, let’s go.”

\----

After running for what felt like hours, Tobio and Bokuto hid in an abandoned closet after turning a fast corner that confused their numerous pursuers.

Once inside, Bokuto spoke in heated bursts through his com, unused electric pistol still drawn, getting more information from Kozume on ways to escape their little pickle.

“Okay, dude, our friends have taken off to hide away in another building alley.  Keiji will send someone to _us_ with a personal teleporter to take us one at a time back to the ship.  After that we’ll get the fuck off of this planet and Suckishima’s clutches.”

Tobio nodded without really listening, his brain desperately latching onto the phrase _personal teleporter_.  

“Wait, we have a personal teleporter?  Why the fuck are we running around?”

“Well, uh… personal teleporters take in zones and regions, but can’t transport to exact coordinates.  Nor can they get us off the Earth since the range on those things is still shit.  We need a spot with lots of wiggle room that is also concealed from the Man.  Kenma’s working on it, but finding a spot like that on short notice may take a while.  We don’t want any mishaps.”

“Mishaps?”  Tobio practically yelled, descending once more into Full Panic Mode.

_These people are going to fucking kill me._

“Mass market teleporters have failsafes to prevent, say, teleporting inside a wall, but Keiji built this one himself, so, uhhhhh...”

_Fucking god damnit._

They waited a few minutes longer in silence.  After a signal from Kozume, they ventured out of the closet to sneak towards an empty warehouse space Kozume found a few levels down.  Hunching over to disguise their towering heights, they shuffled back down the quiet closet hallway and merged into busy maze corridor traffic.

Tobio trailed behind Bokuto as they crept towards a tucked away _authorized personnel only_ service stairwell.  The door unlatched itself right as Bokuto stepped in front of it ( _you’ve got some serious skills, two-tone_ ), and the duo raced down several flights of empty stairs to a mech engineering building level.

After a warm-body all-clear from Kozume, the duo burst out of the stairwell and towards the main hallway, turning right en route to the empty warehouse.

Or, what was _supposed_ to be an empty warehouse.

“ _Shit, shit, shit,”_ Bokuto whispered frantically, pulling a wide-eyed Tobio back towards the hallway branch where the stairs spit them out.  About to round the corner, Bokuto skidded to a stop in front of Tobio in the face of a battalion of trigger-happy soldiers, his pistol woefully inadequate to respond in kind but quickly aimed at the ready nonetheless.

“ _RUN,_ dude!”  Bokuto pushed Tobio back towards the warehouse and started firing in short bursts at their pursuers, sneaking back behind the wall when the soldiers responded.  Tobio heard some yelling for backup and looked on in horror, feet cemented to the ground, as Bokuto took several hits from various forms of electric and physical weaponry Tobio couldn’t see around the turn.  Despite getting plugged and shocked more than a few times, Bokuto managed to silence their pursuers, stumbling heavily into the wall.

Tobio ran up to Bokuto and grabbed his direct-link com to Kozume from his ear to place it deftly in his own.  He wound Bokuto’s arm around his shoulders to keep him upright, sparing only a brief glance at the blood stain Bokuto left on the wall.  He started shouting at Kozume through the com as he limped down the hallway, laboring under Bokuto’s muscular weight.  He tried desperately to gulp down the oxygen he needed to move his lead-heavy legs to get the _fuck out of there_ and somehow talk at the same time.

“I-it’s me, we need help!  He’s hurt bad!  He killed a bunch of them but more are coming!  Wh-what do I do?” he shouted.

Bokuto was mumbling something but Tobio’s couldn’t make out his words, his senses overwhelmed by a riot of other sounds, smells, and sights.   _Great, now I know what a cooked human body smells like._ Tobio looked behind him and could see a grotesque smoke emanate from the stairwell branch.  He heard scuffling over the com, some indiscriminate shouting-slash-arguing, after which Kozume instructed him to “ _SIT TIGHT!_ ”

_I wish I could fucking sit, dumbass!_

As Tobio stopped with Bokuto and waited for some semblance of a plan to be hatched, a few people emerged from the warehouse entryways and gawked at the dead soldiers piled up in front of the service stairwell.  He knew it was only a matter of time before one of these useless dumbasses called authorities and accelerated their capture, or apparently, their fucking demise.

_Bokuto didn’t shoot first..._

But one amongst the gaggle of visitors was suddenly Sawamura, pushing through to them, looking worse for the wear with oil stains on his face, arms, and clothes.  Tobio saw a blue-collar man following closely behind, shouting obscenities at Sawamura and his “outrageous intrusion”.

Sawamura grabbed Bokuto by his armpit.  “Here, give him to me.”  Tobio transferred him over, struggling to shift him securely in Sawamura’s arms, the latter’s broad shoulders easily accepting the weight.  Sawamura tapped away at the teleporter, holding both man and device closely, the two disappearing a second later under the scrutiny of the building employees.

Tobio fidgeted as he waited for his quantum chariot to arrive, but not a few seconds had passed before he heard the stairwell door slam open around the corner and had to make a run for it, bolting in the opposite direction.  Adrenaline pressed him forward, faster than he’d ever run before, suddenly grateful he’d swiped Bokuto’s Kozume-com.

“I’m-- I’m-- on the move, but they’re coming, they’re _so close_ …”

A shot ricocheted off the wall near his head and he barked out a yell, bending forward out of instinct.  He heard talking over Bokuto’s com but couldn’t make out what Kozume was saying….  he couldn’t see where he was going anymore… he was so, so, fucked, _so fucked…_

_Will he be sad when I’m gone?  Will anyone--_

He rounded a corner to escape the line of fire only to run into Sawamura-- _thank fuck--_ whose usual disgruntled expression morphed into a wide, scary smile as he grabbed Tobio firmly and activated the teleporter.  In a confusing flash they were out of there, teleporting them somewhere with gusts of wind that re-arranged his pin-straight hair.

“You okay?” Sawamura shouted over the noise but couldn’t break Tobio of his thousand-yard stare.  Tobio nodded dumbly, Sawamura shuffling him forward into a beam of ominous looking red light that came out of nowhere; he wondered briefly if he was shot down and this was all just a dream…

He had about a second to register that the wind abated when a large, warm mass slammed into him, forcing him off of a platform he’d been standing on.  He looked around without really seeing, only recognizing the mess of orange hair flush against his shirt.  He felt arms around him, hugging him tightly, the blunt form of a cheekbone pressed solidly against his chest.

Forgetting who he was and what he was supposed to be doing,  his brain a fuzzy mess, he tentatively allowed one of his free hands to touch the young man’s hair, bringing him back to earlier that morning in that bed, remembering the smell of his hair and the way it felt against his face… the warmth of his body next to his…

_It’s just as soft as I remember..._

Lost in this unfamiliar comfort, he startled when the young man extricated himself from his arms, wide brown eyes widening almost comically with some sudden realization as they looked at each other.

“I-I’m, um…. sorry that I… I shouldn’t have….” the young man stuttered.

A blush creeped up to wash his soft features an endearing pink, and Tobio couldn’t help but stare.  The young man started to fidget, staring back, slowly withering under Tobio’s gaze.   _Is my face scary again?_ Eventually, Hinata looked away, eyebrows uncomfortably pinched together, hands clutched in front of him.

Tobio tore his eyes away from the young man to assess his surroundings.  With the threat of capture now over, Kozume abandoned his God duties (and cool helmet) to triage Bokuto, whom Akaashi had carried towards a bedroom at the back of the ship.  Tobio’s eyes lingered on Sugawara and Sawamura as they clutched each other, Sugawara quietly crying into his shoulder, Sawamura reassuring him with gentle murmurs.

_Is Bokuto okay....?_

He must have spoken out loud, because Hinata responded quietly, looking anywhere but at Tobio’s face.

“They… they don’t know, but Sugawara said that Kozume and Akaashi have some medical training, so…”

A whoosh of sound and a whir drew Tobio’s attention to the bow, and he watched as Kuroo activated the ship, hands flying across the built-in screen panel with confident familiarity.  Tobio felt like a zombie, walking over and strapping himself into the standard-issue speed seat for what felt like the millionth time in his dreary life, the plummeting mood of Team Suga making his devolve accordingly.  He tracked Hinata as the young man sat down next to him, his fully-bloomed blush still intact and clutching at his armrests.  Even in his shock, he found a way to focus on Hinata.

A few minutes later, Tobio felt the familiar drop in his stomach as the plane ascended, taking him far, far away from Earth once again.  Before zapping past the Earth’s escape velocity, a small hand wormed its way into his own, issuing a tight squeeze.

\----

Shouyou still felt anxious several hours into their journey when Akaashi emerged from the back room, his mussed up hair crowning his tired face.

“He’s going to be okay, but he’s definitely out of commission for a while.  He can help me run the ship in maybe a day or two, but he won’t be participating in any more combat,” Akaashi announced in a voice laced with gravel, barely loud enough for Shouyou to hear.  “Tetsu, you should get Kenma; he’s pretty worn out.  I’ll take over from here.”

Shouyou sighed in relief and looked over to Kageyama.  The man was slumped over with his neck bent forward, his light snoring blending in with the din of the ship.  A scowl marred his face-- _resting Kageyama face--_ even then, but maybe he was just in the throes of a nightmare; after the stress of the last day, he wouldn’t be surprised.

Shouyou felt a little embarrassed about his earlier actions, but he’d been so worried about him.  For the first time since high school, he felt the first flickers of a connection to someone--to Kageyama--however faint, and the thought of losing him so soon scared him.

Maybe the connection wasn’t a connection at all, and these crazy circumstances had just dramatized what he felt.  But his visceral fear for his safety had felt real.  The men dragging him away, the cold of the prison, all that had felt so real.  And… the comfort he’d felt eating with Kageyama, standing close to him, wearing his sweater--felt real.   _So real._

Kageyama awoke with a shout and he immediately pushed back in his chair, arms tense against the seat rests, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Shouyou spoke to him gently to avoid scaring him further, “Hey, it’s okay, we’re on the ship--”

Kageyama looked around and relaxed a little, only to affix a terrible glare on Shouyou.

“What the hell were you doing just now?  Watching me _sleep_?”

“N-no!  I was just…”

“That’s creepy.”  Kageyama’s terse education finished, he got up in a huff, heading to the front of the ship where Sawamura sat with Akaashi, conversing in low tones by the glittering controls.  Shouyou followed, interested in learning about where they were going and this amazing ship, but also just wanting to stay close to him, for which he earned another fierce blue-eyed scowl.

“Welcome on board, Kageyama.  I am sorry I could not greet you properly earlier.  Thanks for helping get us out of here and… for not abandoning Kou,” Akaashi said.

Kageyama blushed and murmured, “He saved me first.”

Akaashi smiled with what Shouyou thought was pride.

“Kozume mentioned he wanted my help tracking the evil for ritual synchronization.  Do you have somewhere I can get set up?” Kageyama asked.

Akaashi nodded and indicated a cubby to their left with a workstation tucked away inside.  The tiny computer monitor flared to life at the touch of Akaashi’s fingers, around which holographic images swirled, the images taking the shape of buttons and keys.  “That is uplinked to Earth’s and a few other networks, including the those of Mars and Europa.  Kenma’s already arranged a secured uplink for you to access your data.”

Shouyou looked on in fascination as the two continued to talk shop.

“Why Europa?” Kageyama asked.

“Deep ocean currents.  With Jupiter’s wobbly magnetic field, it powers itself.  It serves as a big data hub around the Solar System, among other things.  Tends to be a bit faster when Earth’s all bogged up.”

“Huh.  I guess it’s been awhile since I was stationed so close to Earth.  Mind if I fish out my archives and sync them with the ship’s local storage?”

“Be my guest... just don’t do anything Kenma wouldn’t do.”

Nodding in acknowledgement, as if any of that made sense, Kageyama took a seat and bent over the workstation, punching in some code or commands or _whatever,_ disturbing the holographs and making the monitor turn into a boring black screen with rapidly changing green text.  Shouyou sat down next to him and watched him work.

“This continues to be creepy, you watching me,” Kageyama remarked a few minutes later without so much as a hiccup in his rapid typing.

“You started it,” Shouyou shot back immediately, smile on his face.

Kageyama blushed, offering no response, as good an admission of guilt in Shouyou’s eyes as any.

Though he liked watching Kageyama get a little flustered, his curiosity once more got the better of him.  “What’s an uplink?”

Kageyama sighed heavily.  “Don’t you know anything, twerp?”

Honesty is the best policy, right?  “Well… I was never any good at math, so they didn’t let me near the computers in school.”

Kageyama continued typing in silence for a few minutes, Shouyou slowly giving up any hope that he would get any answers.

“It’s a connection from this ship to my own data on Earth so I can access my files that are far away,” Kageyama responded quietly.

Shouyou smiled.   _Success_.  “What kinds of files?” he chirped, as riveted by Kageyama’s know-how as he was about the man himself.

Kageyama finally stopped his work and turned towards Shouyou with an appraising gaze, his eyes narrowing.  He stayed like that for a minute, seeming to read something from Shouyou’s expression, then turned to resume scrolling through new lines of that mystifying green text.

“My team detected the return of the evil a few weeks ago on a scouting mission.  I have an archive query saved on the network, even though Oikawa never sent any of it to my local machine--”

“Scouting mission?  Are you on ships a lot?” Shouyou interrupted.

“All the time,” Kageyama replied in a bored monotone.

“Whoa… have you been all over the Galaxy?”

“Yeah, that’s what scouts do, dumbass.”

“Hey!  Well, this is my first time leaving Earth… so you should tell me all about the coolest places in the Galaxy!  Maybe we can… uh… go!” Shouyou said, and if he let his self-consciousness leech into his voice, he hoped the man didn’t notice.  Kageyama didn’t respond, but he didn’t shut him down, either, so…

Then, something Kageyama had said a little earlier grabbed his attention as suddenly as this amazing ship had materialized in the gloomy building alley.

“Is Oikawa your friend?” Shouyou blurted.

It was a while before Kageyama spoke again.  “... M-maybe.”

“How is someone _maybe_ your friend?”

“He’s kind of an asshole, okay?  We work together.  But I... trust him.  I guess.” Kageyama argued.

“Oh, he’s a co-worker?  I have a few of those at the café, but we’re usually too busy to talk very much.  One guy there, Nishinoya, he’s kind of an airhead.”

Silence descended once more, Shouyou happily watching as Kageyama worked but--

“If Oikawa is a _maybe_ friend, who are your _not-maybe_ friends?”

Kageyama sighed, his typing increasing in fervor.  “What is a _not-maybe_ friend?  Someone who is definitely not your friend or someone who is?”

“Someone who _is!_  Duh!”

Kageyama clicked his tongue.

Shouyou hoped quietly for an answer to his original question, patience not his strongest suit.  

“... I don’t have any,” quiet words he nearly missed despite his rapt attention.

Shouyou frowned, his reply coming easy.  “Sure you do.  I’m your friend!”

Kageyama’s eyebrows reached for each other as he kept furiously tapping his fingers on the keypad, occasionally poking a stiff finger at a holographic button but not arguing with him.

Movement to Shouyou’s right drew his attention away from Kageyama and he watched as Sawamura stood up to look around, hands on his hips.  “Anyone else hungry?”

_Always!_

\----

“ _I’m your friend!_ ”

_Baka._

How naïve, thinking them friends after not even an entire _day_.  Just because they’re running around trying to save the world together doesn’t make them friends.  

_But what do I know about having friends…_

Given a moment’s respite from Hinata’s one-sided game of twenty _fucking_ questions, Tobio closed his eyes and tried to control his heart rate, beating rapidly from emotions Hinata seemed to easily conjure.  He had to admit the expression on the young man’s face seemed earnest, and was _extremely_ _cute_.  No one had ever tried to get to know him before.

_Not even Oikawa._

He thought he was used to the idea of being a loner, data his only friends, years of interstellar travel making permanent the divide between him and whatever family he’d had.  He thought of the radio silence from his parents who probably only used him as a piece of familial pride anyway, telling stories to strangers about how proud they were of their only son, galavanting heroically around the Galaxy.

For the first time in many years, Hinata made him feel like his isolation wasn’t enough anymore, that maybe all his _heroic galavanting_ could instead be used to impress this… his… _friend_ … rather than as a tool for self-isolation.

As if his thoughts drew Hinata back to him, the young man returned carrying a plate loaded up with steamed buns that smelled… like… like…

“Are those curry buns?”

“Yes!  They have the best food on ships, Kageyama!”

Tobio rolled his eyes as Hinata placed the plate between them, apparently intent on sharing.   _There’s no way Hinata can eat all those himself… right?_ The young man sat very close to Tobio, their _fucking thighs touching,_ as he scarfed down a few buns in short order.

_He’s too fucking--_ “Slow down or you’ll choke.”

“ _HMMMPPF_?”

Tobio looked his fill of the young man sitting next to him, cheeks overstuffed with one of Tobio’s favorite foods, drool poking out from the corner of his mouth, eyes bright and a little squinty, messy orange hair all over the place.  He looked his fill of the young man who had asked him a bunch of questions about his shitty life.  Acting like, no--actually _caring_ about his answers.  He was too naïve to wear a mask.

_Who is this guy?_

It was all too much.  The image before him made something constrict uncomfortably in his chest, and he couldn’t help but loosen the automatic reins on his tightly controlled scowl.

They looked at each other for a few quiet moments, Hinata’s eyes widening for some reason before he descended into a coughing fit, Tobio slapping his back forcefully.

_Bakayaro…_

Once Hinata got to breathing normally, they made short work of the plate of buns.  Tobio returned to hacking his old ship’s logs to get updates on the evil’s position-- _I almost forgot, I have to save the fucking world_.  After spending considerable time worming his way into the network as secretly as possible, he initiated some scripts to hard copy data over to the ship’s local storage, but stopped just short of running them, needing to know how long he’d have with a secured, open uplink.

Tobio got up from the workstation quietly so as to not disturb Hinata, who had passed out sometime in the last hour or so that Tobio worked in silence.  He approached Akaashi and Sawamura at the ship’s front, still chatting quietly as the ship barreled through space.  He noticed Sugawara in his periphery slumped in one of the speed seats, his head bobbing periodically in sleep.

The two looked up as his approach.  “How long until our next destination?”

“A few days.  I am keeping the location of the stones secured even from the ship’s manifest, but we are heading in the right direction for now.”

“Will we be going warp speed?”

“Yes, but I don’t plan to for another day, so run whatever you need to.”

Tobio nodded, murmuring a “thank you”, returning to press _go_ on his lengthy **rsync** script.

_How many times has rsync saved my ass…_

The code running let loose, he walked back over to the ship’s helm.  “Any spare beds for that one?” he asked, tilting his head towards Hinata, who had started to snore.   _Goddamnit, snoring is_ not _cute._

Akaashi smiled affectionately.  “Yeah, last door on the left.  There’s another bed in there.  I have barracks down below, too, but it’s pretty cold.”

“Thanks.”  Tobio returned to the workstation and nudged Hinata’s shoulder.  “Hey, Hinata, time to get up.”

“ _Mmmmnnnnn…”_

Hinata stood up and latched onto Tobio’s arm for support as Tobio led him back to the room.  Once inside, he turned down the bed with his free hand and pushed Hinata onto it, who immediately crawled underneath and promptly fell asleep.

He smirked at the _supreme being_ and emerged from the private quarters, sliding the door closed quietly behind him.  He made his way back towards the terminal, but was interrupted en route.

“That was sweet of you, Kageyama,” Sugawara whispered, knowing smile on his face.

“Shut up, _Father_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, no real cliffhanger this time, but shit is about to get REAL!
> 
> 5/10/17 minor edits


	4. Zero Stones, Zero Crates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata grapples with his first journey through a wormhole.

The next morning, Tobio woke in a room in the ship’s belly, freezing his _ass_ off.  Par for the course of ship living, as far as he knew.

He took his time in the en suite shower, letting the super hot water defrost his bones and cleanse away his memories from the frantic day before.  He wondered how Bokuto was doing, where they were in the Galaxy by now, if Hinata was awake yet--

_Hinata_.  He sighed, knowing it would be awhile before his brain could change its focus.  He leaned against the shower wall and closed his eyes, water sluicing down his naked chest, picturing the young man’s easy smile and slight shoulders, dwarfed in Tobio’s ratty sweater.  He felt arousal stirring in his gut, a sensation he so often ignored throughout his life but seemed strongest just after waking.  It raged that morning in the face of something he couldn’t feign away or ignore any longer: even after so little time, his superficial attraction to Hinata was deepening unexpectedly.

They’d had limited chances to talk but Tobio didn’t detect any subterfuge in their exchanges, Hinata asking all about his life and his job, his brown eyes rapt with attention and interest.  And while the guy was a few colors short of a full box of crayons, he’d held Tobio’s hand after escaping the building, the young man realizing what he needed before he even did.  Tobio blushed at the memory and closed his eyes.  Thoughts of orange hair and bright smiles and his little laugh running away with him, he toyed with his hardening erection, tracing it with his fingertips, shivering despite the water’s scalding temperature.  

He tried to stop when the cold sweat hit him, when his shivering became violent shakes and heaves of his chest, but even then it was almost futile.   _God,_ Hinata didn’t deserve _any_ of this.  Memories of Hinata shifted for the worse, turning more and more provocative, his jaw locking tight with the effort of forcing them back but failing--Hinata on his knees, Hinata in the shower, naked in his bed--no, _NO--_

He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, trembling as he gave in and wrapped his long fingers around his fully hardened cock.  He placed his other hand flat on the shower wall in front of him for support and let his chin fall to his chest, unable to hold it up anymore.  His pleasure heightened all of his senses, the scalding water more painful on his head, his chest, his back.   _No more than I deserve._  After only a few angry strokes, he barked out a yell and came on the shower walls, the water washing away the evidence of his masturbation and the tears that had formed in his eyes.

He cringed at the picture he must have made, his disgust with himself a sharp knife in his chest.  The blush of his cheeks worsened with embarrassment as he stood in the shower, his weakened state allowing long-buried memories from high school to return in a raging flood.

He’d been mercilessly picked on by his peers back then, an admittedly easy target.  He was the scrawny, awkwardly proportioned kid a few years younger than everyone else that still had the best grades in the class and the admiration of all his teachers.  A towncar took him to school every day.  But his bullies were like sharks, sniffing out a single drop of blood in an entire ocean, easily finding and devouring more fodder with which to torment Tobio.

It was his fault, really.  When bored in lectures he himself could have taught, he’d made the grave mistake of staring at some of his _handsome_ male classmates just a little too long.

Without any friends or emotional support from his parents, he hadn’t any guidance about the changes he felt in his mind and body.  He hadn’t understood what others might think about his feelings, his attraction--feelings that he had apparently worn on his sleeve as a young, oblivious teenager.

As the primary target for the school’s most notorious bullies, Tobio--newly dubbed _the faggot--_ acquired even more unwanted attention in a twisted version of the snowball effect.  Tobio’s fist tightened of its own volition on the wall of the shower as he tried to think of anything else, but with the wave of his old high school memories came something else.

He got shoved into lockers, beat on, and even harassed during class when the teacher wasn’t looking, but the strongest and worst memory of all was of the man and his heavy green eyes.

Suddenly eager to put clothes on, he turned off the water but couldn’t feel the controls under his fingers.  He activated the shower’s dry mode in a rush, barely registering the jets that blasted warm air on his skin from little spigots in the shower walls.  He stepped out and roughly towel-dried his hair, quickly dressing in the track suit he’d borrowed from Akaashi the night before.

He got into bed stiffy to try to wait out the episode.  After his bullies had bestowed his new nickname, he’d started noticing the green-eyed upperclassman more and more in the hallways, outside of his classes and loitering around his locker, always watching Tobio.  He curled up on his side in the bed, shivering, recalling the day the upperclassman stopped simply staring and made his move, unable to close the floodgates.

Tobio had stayed late, as he’d done almost every weeknight, working to accrue more college credit with his mathematics teacher while everyone else went home.  He’d finished up an assignment and packed his things but only made it about halfway to the school’s exit when he was roughly grabbed and forced down an abandoned hallway, sweaty hand muffling his startled shouts.

_Those green eyes_.

He breathed in heavy bursts, remembering the hands on him and the evil man’s whispered, eager words as he’d pinned Tobio with his powerful body, meaty arm against his neck cutting off his air, using his other to dishevel Tobio’s uniform.  Tobio had thrashed and screamed for what felt like hours, eventually gaining enough leverage to kick the man’s shins hard enough to loosen his grip and run, but not before… before…

Clutching his pillow, his mind scrambled to glob onto something, _anything_ instead of what happened that day.   _Oh god, what else is there?  Is that all I am?_

_No, don’t think of Hinata, not_ now.   _He doesn’t deserve--_

_Data.  Think about data.  Oh--_ the sync of his data to the ship should have completed by now; maybe he could figure out the evil’s proper travel time.    _Okay, yeah.  I can do that_ , he thought manically.

Tobio eventually got up on his unsteady feet and stopped in the bathroom to check his hair, surprised to find his eyes ringed red.  He wiped off his face, looking at himself in the mirror.  

_Will Hinata have nightmares about blue eyes?_

He left his room and hopped in the elevator capsule, letting the stream of air thrust him up to the main cabin floor.  He stepped out--

“Kageyama!  Breakfast!”

_Fuck.  I can’t… do this right now._

Hinata’s voice travelled the short distance to him and he steeled himself against the coming encounter.  He walked over to the small gathering on his left, determined to not look at Hinata for fear that the young man could read all about his horrible past in his eyes.  The layout of the ship was pretty typical for this size, comprised of three main sections: central command up front, two aisles of speed seating next, the back of the ship dominated by living quarters. To Tobio’s left, a small but functional kitchenette looked alive with spattered food, steam still peeking out from a hot pot on the stovetop.

The group of diners nestled cozily around a pop-out table by the kitchen.  The aroma of food wafted over to Tobio and his stomach came out from hiding to grumble obnoxiously.  The group at the table shuffled, opening a space between Kuroo and Hinata for him.   _Great._

He folded his lanky limbs up to squeeze in front of the table, noticing a thermal carafe by Hinata.  

_Drink some coffee like everything is normal.  Easy._

_Can I even talk right now?_ “Is that coffee?” Tobio croaked, looking slightly away from Hinata’s face.

Hinata smiled brightly and handed the carafe to him, following up with a mug a moment later.  “I put milk in it, I hope that’s okay!”

_I think he might be perfect._  Tobio shook his head and sighed, letting his upper back round over after a few sips of piping hot (and surprisingly delicious) coffee with cream.  After a while, he quietly picked out some morsels from the table to add to his plate, deftly avoiding the eyes of his dining companions.  Hinata sat quietly beside him, face stuffed with food.

The group ate in silence for a while, Tobio enjoying his first taste of halfway decent breakfast fare in many years.  After finishing his coffee, Kozume pulled him out of his own head with a softly spoken inquiry, “Did you get your data yet, Kageyama?”

Grateful for the distraction, he nodded immediately.  “I ran a synching code last night.”   _That almost sounded normal.  Idiot._

“Once you’re finished, let’s get to work modelling the evil’s trajectory.  For now we are wandering towards the location of the stones, but it may be safer to keep them hidden for now.”

“Okay.”  He told Kozume more about his data as he mindlessly picked at the final few leftovers of food on his plate.  Eventually their conversation about bootstrapping lulled so he cleared off his plate, which Hinata immediately filched to add to his ever-increasing stack of dirty dishes, utensils rolling around noisily on top.  Tobio watched as Hinata heaved all the plates and went to run towards the ship’s elevator before anyone could protest.   _Maybe the dishwasher is in the lab…?_ Kozume stood to get to work and Tobio followed after the man once he topped off his coffee.

Halfway to his data, Tobio heard a huge clash of dishes slamming into the floor and turned around to find Hinata in a face-off with… _Bokuto?_

“Hey hey heeeeey!”

“BOKUTO!”  Hinata screamed, looking like he wanted to hug the man, but managed to string enough neurons together to stop himself.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, shrimpy, are _you_?” Bokuto replied, eyeing the mess Hinata made from dropping all those dirty dishes.  Despite his high spirits, Tobio could tell the man was in a lot of pain.  His right arm and shoulder, which probably took the most damage in his gun fight with the soldiers, were immobilized in a bulky sling.  He looked sickly pale, his body working hard to heal itself from the full-body electric assault he endured.  Bokuto wore loose track pants, a stringer that allowed for easy access to his numerous bandages, and… bunny slippers.

Tobio was extraordinarily grateful to the man for keeping him safe while they were the targets of a shoot-to-kill directive, but… _bunny slippers?_

Hearing the commotion, Akaashi lept from his perch at central command and ran over Bokuto.  “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Bokuto smiled, “I’m okay, thanks to you.”

Akaashi held the man’s mostly uninjured face, bestowing on him a gentle kiss.

When the two separated, Hinata stepped closer to Bokuto, his arms stiff at his sides.

“Thank you for saving Kageyama!” Hinata shouted, full-on serious, silencing the cabin’s occupants for a few seconds before Kuroo smirked and Sugawara tried (poorly) to hold back a giggle.

Bokuto’s eyes widened as he turned his head with comical slowness to look over at Tobio.  Bokuto silently teased, giving Tobio a knowing wink.  Of course, this was the perfect opportunity for everyone to follow suit and turn towards Tobio to watch as his face practically scorched with the ferocity of his blush.

_Fuck it all._   _What was that for, dumbass?_

He turned towards his workstation again  in a huff, hiding his traitor of a face under the guise of saving the stupid world.  Kozume had continued walking as though immune to any ship drama, already seated and tapping away at the workstation.

Once seated together, he and Kozume got down to business, engrossing themselves in his newly acquired data except when Tobio’s ears perked up at the sound of Hinata’s melodic laughter.

_Come on, stay focused._  He’d hacked into the archives Oikawa had previously queried about historical pulsars and the original data from Dr. Yachi’s personal files, along with all recorded updates and some of his personal effects.  

His head stopped pounding so much after seeing that his data was tucked away onboard.  What with his recent renegade status as part of Team Suga, he’d been unable to take his usual precautions with his work and ensure he had copies with him; as a data scientist, he never knew where the next job would take him.  Now that his life and livelihood were all on board, he breathed a little easier.

Tobio noticed that the data he swiped from Dr. Yachi had many new updates on the evil’s path since its original discovery.  Originally, the evil was purported to be near the Galactic center, and multi-perspective data from Earth and other extrasolar locations had finally confirmed that guess.  

As Kozume checked the pulsar archives, Tobio skimmed through some of the recent notes Dr. Yachi made about the evil, dated after he and Oikawa had left the scouting ship to be congratulated by the asshole president.

_Original speed, 0.5c.  Relativistic effects for evil communication a problem._

_Doppler shifting on ship vs. Earth confirm Earth trajectory_

_New speed 0.4c._

_It slowed?_ Tobio wasn’t much of an astronomer himself, so he did a few back of the envelope calculations to determine the evil’s travel time to Earth from the Galactic center, given its original speed.  The accepted distance between Earth and the Galactic center was about eight kiloparsecs, or 150 quadrillion miles for the plebs on Earth still refusing to use the metric system.   _Idiots._

But at that distance… at that speed… it would still take…

“50,000 years of travel time,” Kozume interrupted.  “So maybe it’s a different iteration of the evil,” he said, sounding bored.  After the few days they’ve had, crunching some numbers was probably quite the yawn-fest for the astrophysicist.

“If an irregular x-ray signal this strong was any closer to Earth, scouts would have picked it up by now.  Something weird is going on here,” Tobio remarked.

Unfazed, Kozume got up to drag Sugawara over and ask about the evil’s detection during its prior resurgence.

“The previous evil was close enough to Earth that, between detection and the ritual, only a couple of weeks had passed.  Not… 50,000 years.”  Sugawara pursed his lips together.  “That doesn’t make any sense.  We are on the precipice of the evil’s return; it will arrive sooner than 50,000 years.  Are you _sure_ this is it?” he shot back, rare frustration evident on his face.

“Not sure, Koushi.  I will keep a scan open of government frequencies once we settle somewhere, but for now there isn’t much to do,” Kozume replied.

“So… we wait?” Tobio asked.

Sugawara and Kozume sighed in unison.  “So we wait.”

\----

After a delicious breakfast and nearly ruining the entire ship’s worth of dishes, Shouyou strapped into the speed seat again while Sawamura updated everyone on Kageyama and Kozume’s findings.  “Apparently the evil is on… hiatus.  Instead of retrieving the stones right away, we will head over to the Orion Nebula and hide out there for a while.”

“Where’s that?” Shouyou asked.

“Still within the Orion spur.  It’s a little further out in the Galaxy than the Solar System, only some 1,300 light years from Earth,” Sawamura replied.

“W-wait, are we gonna go warp speed?”

Sawamura smiled.  “You bet.”

Shouyou nodded, looking down at the couple of straps that would keep him safe on this journey.  He started toying with them, his movements slow and without purpose.  He looked around for Kageyama, wondering where he went after Sawamura and Akaashi decided to change course.  He craned his neck around the seat to spot the man surfacing from the elevator, zip-up in hand and usual _resting Kageyama face_ on display.  Although his first ship journey so far had been great, they were about to go warp speed, and Shouyou wanted--

“Kageyama!  Sit by me?”

The man stopped in his tracks, clutching his sweater tightly in his hands, but eventually walked over and stood in front of the seat next to Shouyou.  He unzipped his sweater and fed his arms through the sleeves, zipping up the front before sitting down.  He strapped himself in with practiced familiarity, and Shouyou remembered that travelling around the Galaxy was part of Kageyama’s _job._

“What’s it like?” he asked in a small voice, hoping it didn’t carry to the others on board.  He watched Kageyama’s cheeks redden before he clarified.  “Warp speed?  We’re doing it soon, right?”

Kageyama nodded.  “Um… it’s cold.”

“C-cold?”

“The ship dissipates heat more quickly at higher speeds in empty space, so it usually gets a little cold, even inside the hull,” Kageyama replied.  

Shouyou looked down at his own T-shirt and figured he’d be fine; the only sweater he had was the one Kageyama let him borrow, and he felt weird going and getting it for some reason.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Shouyou distracted by thoughts of the man sitting next to him.  Ah, hell, he knew the reason.  He’d woken up that morning clutching Kageyama’s sweater, practically wrapping himself around the cloth, its smell in his nose.  After he got up, he’d primly folded the sweater and placed it on the foot of the bed, hoping no one would notice its new wrinkles.   _It smells just like him--_

“You get used to it, though,” Kageyama interrupted his embarrassing train of thought.  “Since the trip doesn’t last very long, thanks to, um, time dilation.  At these speeds it’ll only feel like a few minutes of travel to get to the wormhole that Kozume pinpointed.”

Shouyou’s head craned back, not really understanding what Kageyama said except the “few minutes of travel” part.   _Wait a minute--_ “We’re… going into a wormhole?” he squeaked.

Kageyama nodded, way too nonchalant for what was about to happen.

“That’s… are we... w-what--”

Kageyama huffed out a breath.  “Calm down, dumbass.  You’ll barely feel anything.  You can even close your eyes, but I wouldn’t if I were you.”

Now Shouyou was getting _really_ freaked out.  “W-w-w-why not?”

Kageyama turned to look him in the eye seriously as he leaned in.  “Because it’s _cool_.”

Shouyou tilted his head.   _Huh?_

“You already said it would be cold--”

“No, dumbass, it’s _cool_.  Light from space will get warped as we approach the wormhole.  We have to turn off the detectors so they don’t break, but if we didn’t have to, we could record stuff _from the future._ ”

_No way!_ “Whoa, really?!  What kind of stuff?”

“Anything.  Everything.  Though no one’s ever been able to prove it, general relativity allows for past and future horizons to be observed when passing through a black hole’s event horizon.”

“Black hole?  Wha--”  
  
“Black holes are the entrances to wormholes.”

Shouyou… got a little overwhelmed, but knew Kageyama was expecting some kind of response.  

“OKAY!  I’LL WATCH!” he shouted, after which everything around him got a little fuzzy.  He’d felt like this before his first-ever volleyball match in high school, where it took a series of colossal screw-ups for him to start feeling better.

He heard voices nearby, felt hands fussing around with his seat belt, shaking his shoulders, but he struggled to register any of it.  A familiar voice broke through the haze, pitched a little higher than normal, “ _he’s blown a fuse!  What did you say, Kageyama?_ ”

_Sugawara?_

“ _He’s been through so much, why did you scare him like that?”_

The blurred voices swirled around his head in a distortive cacophony.  He knew he was shaking but couldn’t control his body or receive any signals that didn’t first have to pass through the debris surrounding his now-blown mind.

Suddenly something warmed him.  It permeated his shoulders, arms, and torso, and Shouyou didn’t understand what it could be at first, but focusing on it and its _smell_ pulled him from his freak-out session.  He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he slowly came back to himself, blinking his eyes quickly as if to hasten his progress.

_Words.  Say words._ “I’m… it’s okay.”  Though everyone looked a bit skeptical, all of them dispersed except Sugawara.

“Are you sure you’re okay?  We can wait to go until you’re ready, Hinata--”

“No, no, it’s okay, I’ll be okay.  I’m fine.  Really,”  Shouyou stuttered, nodding as if to make his tenuous statement sound a little more convincing.  Sugawara returned to his seat after a minute but continued to eye Shouyou worriedly like his mother used to do.

Shouyou tried to think about how humans travelled like this all the time.  But _he_ hadn’t, and in what was his first experience with high-speed travel thanks to a faulty personal teleporter, he’d initiated a chain of events that would go on to change his life forever in not altogether good ways.  A chain of events that would make him into the _fifth element_ and have to assume responsibility for saving the Earth.

So yeah, he learned to be afraid of the unusual weirdo sciencey transport stuff, but somehow it felt different this time.  He looked to his right where Kageyama was peering through the ship’s hull into the interstellar space beyond, looking relaxed (for Kageyama at least).  If Kageyama could look so casual about all of this, maybe he could, too.  He snuggled into the warmth--

_Warmth?_ Startled, he looked down and found himself underneath Kageyama’s zip-up, open and draped over him.  He pulled the material closer to his chest and could feel a stupid smile forming on his face.  He turned to thank Kageyama--

“Alright, cats and kittens, we all strapped in?” Bokuto shouted.  Sawamura had apparently taken over Bokuto’s usual piloting duties what with his injuries, but that didn’t stop the man from yelling pre-flight instructions _for the safety of our passengers, Akaashi!_  

After the cabin lights dimmed, the ship started to whirr and vibrate, resonating through the armrests Shouyou had at some point death-gripped.  Kageyama glanced over and gave him a nod as if to indicate this was all normal, and soon Shouyou could not focus on anything but the changing lights around him.

The ship hurtled forward and Shouyou felt his body press into the speed seat.  He tried to control his breathing, the material of Kageyama’s zip-up shifting up and down, up and down with his deep inhalations.   _This is it._ He glanced around the ship’s hull and soon realized its disappearing effect had evolved: the entire hull now looked transparent except for the floor, even in his peripheral vision.  In virtually any direction he looked he saw stars whizz by, nearby objects blurring as the ship approached its top speed.  Looming beyond the front window of central command, Shouyou saw a bright ring in space, a circle of light wrapping around... utter darkness.   _The black hole_.  His deep, forceful breathing continued, adrenaline coursing through his veins for the millionth time these past few weeks as he and Team Suga approached the wormhole that would take them to the Orion Nebula.

The ship’s sounds peaked in a wild crescendo as they neared, no, were _surrounded_ by these bright rings of light, blowing Shouyou’s eyes helplessly open as all the visible objects in space warped around them in a dizzying palette of rotating shapes and colors, the light transmitted to him through the bends and dips of spacetime around the black hole.  Light seemed to attack from all sides, striped images of stars and galaxies bursting brightly in rivulets around the ship’s interior.

He managed to tear his eyes away from the bright, evolving, perplexing imagery before him to look at Kageyama, to tell him how amazing and _right_ he was!   _So cool!_ But the man hadn’t been watching it at all, ignoring the scene unfolding outside of the ship to watch Shouyou instead, one side of his mouth curved up in a gentle smile.  Shouyou was transfixed by that smile, and he found himself unable to look back at the progression of his very first voyage via wormhole.  He stopped breathing so deeply, the air too heavy anyway, his skin feeling too warm, cheeks too warm, _everything too warm._  His senses heightened by the magic of the swirling lights bursting around the ship, and with his eyes he traced the images illuminating every curve and bend of Kageyama’s face.

They watched each other in silence until all the lights were suddenly extinguished around the ship hull, pitching them into utter darkness.  In rapid sequence, the lights returned and banished the stark black but for a moment before the ship was spit out into a quiet, pristine new landscape of stars and bright nebulae around them, Shouyou finding the black hole rings long gone.

“Look around,” spoke the quiet voice next to him in the dark, and look he did: brighter than their previous location in the Galaxy, they approached the hazy glow emitted by a huge grouping of nearby clouds.  With the hull transparent and ship’s interior lights dimmed, the-- _nebula?_ \-- light bathed the planes and shapes of the ship’s interior and Kageyama’s face and eyes in warm, pink hues.  Off in the distance, Shouyou could see super bright stars, twinkling their pretty blue light.  Some of the stars seemed overwhelmed; buried beneath the fuzzy interstellar material and unable to break free, the force of their glow struggled in vain to escape the cloud’s clutches.  The whole sky was so much brighter than before, and colorful, _so colorful_ , that Shouyou thought it was nothing short of magic.

At this moment, gratitude overshadowed all of his other emotions, towards whom or what he wasn’t sure--but that for some divine reason, he was allowed to experience _this_ , be here, in this beautiful place, with these people, with… with _him_.

He clutched Kageyama’s sweater closer to him as the ethereal glow continued to consume the sights all around him, thinking about what was in store.  He looked forward to laying low within the nebula, secured away from the prying eyes and deadly machinations of the Earth government.  While the ritual to save the world drew nearer, the prospect no longer filled him with fear--in fact, he felt excitement, given an extraordinary chance to make something of himself.   _I’ll be the best damn fifth element_ ever _!_  Memories of his team, his family, his life seemed so far away compared to the events of the last few weeks.

Shouyou and Kageyama watched as they descended into the bright, cloudy mist, which scattered white light into the ship’s hull from all directions. Shouyou wondered how Akaashi and Sawamura could possibly navigate in the opaque mess until the ship started rumbling again, burdened by new turbulence.  The clouds suddenly parted, the ship entering a hollowed-out sphere buried deep within that cloudy material, the center occupied by a very bright group of stars.  

“Sit tight everyone, we’re now within the star cluster’s ionization front, so we’re getting a little bit of interference.  Once we’re on the planet, it will calm down quite a bit,” Sawamura informed the rest of the passengers, Akaashi remaining silent as his hands flew over the controls.

Akaashi suddenly halted their progression towards the sparkling blue-ish grouping of stars.

“Why are we moving away?” Shouyou asked Kageyama, finally breaking the loaded silence between them, continuing to stare at the star cluster before him.

“Oh, uh… we’re going to land on one of the cluster’s planets,” Kageyama replied quietly.  “So first we use the ship’s thrusters to get ourselves into the cluster’s gravitational orbit.  Then, we use reverse thrusters to slow down as the planet starts to overtake us so we enter a shallower orbit.  Hopefully we time it right and sink right onto the exoplanet.”

“If we’re in orbit, shouldn’t we be... weightless?”  Shouyou remembered that much from school, marking his words with his hands, patting at the ship cabin’s air.

Kageyama smiled a little.   _That smile._  “No, Akaashi’s ship is equipped with really advanced false gravity and gravity wave repellants.  We wouldn’t have survived the wormhole journey otherwise.  People in orbit feel weightlessness because they are in a constant state of free fall, not because there’s no gravity.  In deep space, there are very few sources of gravitational acceleration, so without the ship’s technology, we might’ve avoided that whole dirty dish debacle.”

_Did Kageyama just... make fun of me?_

Shouyou narrowed his eyes and pushed at Kageyama’s shoulder, grinning.  The man blushed but held Shouyou’s eyes, just… watching.

Now it was Shouyou’s turn to blush, and he let his eyes flutter around the transparent ship to the surrounding cloud, to the stars, to Kageyama’s gaze, and back again.

Once in orbit around the star, Shouyou felt the press of the reverse thrusters that took them closer to their target planet, part of its surface illuminated by the bright central stars.  Akaashi and Sawamura made a final reverse thrust and the sounds Shouyou now associated with super speed travel pervaded the ship, the planet’s surface soon dominating Shouyou’s horizon, atmosphere loudly rubbing on the ship’s hull until they touched down on the exoplanet with surprising gentleness.

They landed as one of the central stars started to set in the exoplanet’s sky, coloring the atmosphere with beautiful red and pink hues.  He had never seen anything like this sunset from the elevated view of Earth’s ginormous buildings, but the reason why made him panic that maybe they’d landed in the wrong place.  It was totally abandoned!

“Kageyama… where are we?  Is this... right?”

Just as the man nodded, Shouyou felt a slight jump as the ship descended, the crust of the exoplanet rising over and above the height of the ship as they sank further and further down.  Shouyou saw swirls of brown and black decorate the craggy walls around them, dotted with shiny bits of what looked like some kind of metal or mineral.  He’d never seen anything like it before, having lived most of his life inside a building.   _Do people live on this planet… underground?_

Their descent stopped and a hefty metal ceiling slid in place above the ship, closing off Shouyou’s view of what little starlight had illuminated their subterranean passage.  Sealed in, gusts of air buffered around the ship’s exterior for a few minutes before a huge warehouse door slid open in front of them, basking them in artificial light.  Akaashi navigated the ship inside and docked in what Shouyou thought was a high-tech facility, if its metal-panelled walls and weird-looking machines were anything to go by.

The ship jolted to a stop.  “We’re here, everyone.  We can hide here for a time and wait for an update on the evil.  The feedback surrounding the stars here should obscure most of our transmissions from suspicion.  The Tanakas have taken us in despite being one of the government’s biggest contractors, so let’s show them some appreciation and act… respectfully,” Sawamura said, offering Bokuto specifically a rather menacing glare he’d like never directed at himself.

“Oh come on, man, we’re good friends, remember?  I’m _always_ respectful,” Bokuto replied, hands on his chest in feigned offense.

Sawamura nodded disbelievingly but said no further, walking towards Sugawara to help him out of his speed seat.  Kuroo smirked and stood with Kozume, who stretched his limbs lazily, tablet permanently clutched in his right hand.

Suddenly the name of their new hosts rung a few bells in Shouyou’s brain.  “Wait, Tanaka?  As in, _Tanaka Corp?_ ”

He shivered, remembering the _stupid quantum teleporter._

Sugawara smiled mischievously, responding, “yes, they are one in the same.  Their parents run the company, but the empire’s prince and princess, Ryuu and Saeko, have a lot of time and _a lot_ of money on their hands.  They are technically in charge of a few of the company’s extrasolar base stations, but--”

Kuroo interrupted Sugawara’s explanation, “they have one major thing in common with us--”

Bokuto and Kuroo finished together in their usual dramatic fashion, “they fucking _hate_ Tsukishima!”  The duo laughed, giving each other a cheesy high-five, following each other back to the private bedrooms together to gather their stuff.  Those guys might look big and scary, but they always made Shouyou laugh.

Shouyou stood, holding Kageyama’s zip-up out to him.  “Thank you, Kageyama,” he remarked quietly.

Kageyama nodded, taking his zip-up from Shouyou and fishing his hands back through the armholes.  Zip-up on, he closed his eyes for a moment, the only movement of his body the rise and fall of his chest.  He abruptly turned towards the elevator, leaving Shouyou alone again.

Shouyou went to do the same but the only thing he had was Kageyama’s _other_ sweater he’d borrowed from the prison.  He pulled it over his head, letting the fabric drown him once more, wondering if Kageyama would let him keep it for a while until he could get more clothes.

_Do they sell clothes on extrasolar planets?!_

One at a time, the group left the ship via the portal platform lit with that creepy red light, transporting them to the innards of the high-tech warehouse.  Shouyou was very glad he had Kageyama’s sweater, as the lab felt cold in temperature and also looked pretty creepy, empty of people as it was.

A clanky metal warehouse door unlocked in front of them, squealing open to reveal two tall figures.   _Saeko and Ryuu, was it?_  Two people that Shouyou presumed were the Tanakas stepped into the warehouse, huge grins slapped on their very similar, rough-hewn faces.

“SUGAAAAAAAAAAA!” Ryuu Tanaka shouted by way of greeting, and Sugawara giggled, approaching the man to envelop him in a friendly hug.  Everyone except him and Kageyama also stepped forward; Sawamura briefed Saeko Tanaka about their journey while the tall lackeys greeted Ryuu with repeated punches to his chest.

_How does a priest know so many cool people?_

“It’s been too long, Ryuu!  Thanks again for taking us in.  I hope you weren’t waiting too long…?”

“You’re  more or less on schedule,” Ryuu replied.  “We’ve had your accommodations vacant for a while just in case.  So….” the man scrunched up his face as he looked at Shouyou and Kageyama, spotting the only two people he clearly didn’t know.  “Which one of you’s this _supreme being?_ ”

Shouyou stepped forward.  Knowing the man was in charge of the whole planet, and had wilfully committed treason for letting them hide out here, he approached with stiff, formal steps and bowed.

“I am!  Thank you for taking us in, Mr. Tanaka!”

The man laughed riotously and roughly messed up Shouyou’s hair with one of his hands.  A few others laughed a little except Kageyama, who stepped up to Shouyou’s side in silence, almost protectively, as the prince kept ruffling his hair.

The prince finally removed his hand and Shouyou straightened back up, sidling a little closer to Kageyama. “What’s your name, Supreme?”

“Shouyou Hinata, sir!”

Ryuu Tanaka nodded informally and Shouyou watched him appraise Kageyama next.  “And you, angry man?”

Kageyama’s standard glare intensified but he replied formally, “Tobio Kageyama, Mr. Tanaka.  Thank you for letting us stay here.”

The man laughed again in a full-body chuckle as if he couldn’t help himself, turning to make his way towards the warehouse door to lead them deeper inside their temporary home.  He called behind them with a smile, “Welcome to Z Ori-a!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, I had much fun writing the sci-fi stuff from a semi-realistic standpoint. If you'd like to learn more about entering black holes, check this out: <http://jila.colorado.edu/~ajsh/insidebh/index.html>! Also if you have questions about anything I wrote about don't hesitate to ask :)
> 
> Update 4/29 I have been informed I got Japanese breakfast all wrong -- so I've updated it. Something I should really consider is if, in the 28th century, distinctive countries like the US or Japan are actually still around and how their cultures might have evolved overtime. I will try not to overstep my bounds in the future :)
> 
> Update 5/6 In writing a future chapter I added some significant changes to ch 4. Thanks for reading!  
> 5/10 more major edits, should be done with these for a little while


	5. Is This How Priests Normally Take Vacations?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata befriends some bees.

Assistants of the Tanakas transported their packs to the Tanaka mansion while the siblings took Team Suga on an abbreviated walking tour of Z Ori-a.  They left the hangar and headed down an elevator shaft in pairs, like the one Tobio would have ridden had the government not tried to kill him.

Unsurprisingly, Hinata broke the seal on questions.  “Why is everything underground?”

“We’re orbiting a really powerful star cluster, so we keep everything underground,” Ryuu Tanaka explained a little too jovially.  “Otherwise we’d all be _toast!_ ”

“You could say… it’s a _cluster flux_ up there!” Bokuto butt in, at which Kuroo erupted in boisterous laughter.  Tobio wondered if a person could damage their eyes by rolling them too much.

“Say _cluster flux_ three times fast!” Kuroo challenged, the group continuing to walk along, Sugawara and Sawamura holding hands and shaking their heads at their silly children.

“ _Cluster flux -- cluster tux-- fluster clux -- fl-cluxter flux-- cluster fucks!”_  Bokuto managed before the two lackeys stopped and leaned against a nearby wall, their laughter turning silent and shaking their bodies with its intensity.  Kozume clutched the fabric covering Kuroo’s shoulder as he passed the two, pulling him along, completely engrossed in his tablet.

“Why not find a planet around a friendly star?” Hinata eventually asked.

Some mirth lingered in Ryuu’s voice, not immune to the lackeys.  “ _This_ planet is special.  It’s actually like Earth in some ways, since the core is loaded up with molten iron.  But Z Ori-a rotates even faster than Earth does, swishing around the iron and creating a much more powerful magnetic dynamo.  It protects us from the… cluster flux, _and_ we can use it to power our manufacturing!”

“So cool!”  Hinata’s face lit up, looking around as if trying to _see_ the magnetic field.   _Dumbass._

They pushed on, following closely behind their mogul of a savior as they weaved through the thoroughfares connecting various sprawling labs and refineries deep within the planet.   This close to the core, Tobio had to take off his borrowed track jacket to cool off, throwing it over his right shoulder.  Despite the heat, he walked next to Hinata, a little too close, attention equally split between their surroundings and his reactions.

Men and women hard at work scuttled past their slow-moving group, overly tolerant in the presence of the Tanaka siblings.  The workers’ uniforms varied from long white coats and chunky, plastic eyewear to dirtied cargo pants and protective vests.  The Tanakas must have employed literally everyone they could possibly need to self-sustain production so far from other civilizations.

“Mr. Tanaka, where do all these people live?” Hinata asked.  Though Tobio already knew a bit about this planet, he wondered that himself.

“All of our thousands of employees are local, living in dormitories under the surface,” he pointed up.  “Far above the refineries.  We deck them out, you know, since our people uproot their entire lives to work here for us!  The hangar is on the same sublevel, and they come and go as they please on our charter crafts.  Our employees want for nothing!” he finished proudly.

Saeko followed up on her brother’s explanation, “The dormitories form a sort of mini-society.  Some of our employees have even quit their original jobs with us to open restaurants and shops instead of building our implants.  The community even hosts yearly festivals and runs sport leagues!”

“Do they have volleyball?” Hinata eagerly asked.

“Probably!” Saeko replied, smiling at Hinata.

Shortly after, the Tanaka prince stopped in front of a huge metal sliding door, reinforced and impenetrable.  With his chest puffed up and arms extended, turned to face his charges and exclaimed, “ _Here_ is the final stop for most of the Galaxy’s holographic implants!  We have the most advanced manufacturing plants and research teams in the entire Galaxy!”

Silence descended except for Hinata’s high-pitched _ooo_ -ing, everyone waiting for the Tanakas to lead them inside; however, the siblings just stood there, looking at the group expectantly.

Sugawara eventually spoke up, “So, are we… going in?”

“Oh no, we can’t, it’s a clean room!  The best in the whole Orion Spur!”

Sugawara peeked over at Sawamura and smacked him lightly on his chest with the back of his hand after seeing his shoulders shake with his silent chuckles.  Sugawara replied with mock sincerity, “Oh, wow, Ryuu, that’s amazing!”

The Tanaka prince laughed, puffing up even more at the praise. “I know, right?  Onwards!”

Tanaka showed them a few more labs they could actually enter, Tobio interested in the machinery but quickly getting too tired to care.  Their last stop was the water processing center, which Tanaka explained resourced hydrogen and oxygen suspended in the planet’s layers to manufacture water.  After a boring primer from one of the hydro lab’s technicians that even had Tobio struggling to pay attention, Saeko suggested they end the tour in favor of dinner.

The group headed to the Tanaka’s mansion teleport pad.  Tobio stepped up on the platform and felt the familiar nothingness that preceded the rush of new stimuli.  The Tanaka residence air was balmy but fresh, and Tobio opened his eyes to find himself in a very lavish foyer.  Echoes in the hall bounced about on the marble flooring, massive tiles in alternating black and white that continued up an extravagant old-fashioned spiral staircase.  From his vantage point, Tobio could peek through the foyer’s large entryways on either side to see equally extravagant rooms, littered with woven area rugs and ornate, stiff-looking furniture.  

Hinata arrived shortly after him, followed by Bokuto and the Tanaka prince.  The young man seemed to be coping much better with his surroundings, no longer wary of functioning teleporters but still boyishly twisting his head this way and that to take in everything around him. Tobio found himself staring at that look on his face, what with his wide eyes, sky-high eyebrows that disappeared under his mop of orange hair, his soft mouth open in unmasked wonder--

“Okay, we have a series of rooms saved for you, but we hadn’t anticipated the fifth element’s plus one,”  Tobio sputtered at this but was ignored.  “So you two will have to share!”

_Fuck._

“Okay!” Hinata replied, totally unfazed.  “But can we eat now?” he asked, his eager voice too bouncing around the hard planes of the foyer.  

“For a shrimp, he sure eats a lot,” commented Kuroo in a staged whisper.

“He’s a growing boy, just like me!” yelled Bokuto in reply, which earned him a significant eye-roll from both Kozume and Akaashi behind him.

“Don’t stress the haters, Kou, I’m sure Keiji likes plenty how you _grow_ ,” Kuroo joked after seeing the reception of their partners.  The lackeys giggled, Akaashi blushing furiously but silently withstanding Bokuto’s arm around his shoulders.

_Jesus christ._

Saeko broke in, voice lilted with repressed laughter, “Alright, children, howsabout I show you to your rooms and we can meet up to eat a little later for dinner.  Ryuu!  Let the kitchen know we have some mouths to feed!”

“Aye, aye!”  Ryuu bolted down the foyer hallway towards the kitchen as Saeko Tanaka led the herd upstairs, using the _literal_ stairs, and down a long, lush hallway.  The loud marble flooring was subdued by expensive-looking woven red carpet runners inlaid with designs that matched the pale yellow of the walls.  Various types of art broke up the calming yellow, including eclectic hand-made paintings of some of the Galaxy’s most notorious vacation spots.  Saeko pointed to one in passing, laughing about some escapade her and her brother got up to once upon a time.

Tobio folded his arms over his chest as Saeko dropped off each duo in rooms at the end of the hallway.  Tobio opened the door and the two stepped inside to inspect their hideout, stopping short at hearing Saeko’s instructions.

“Head back down for dinner in about a half an hour.  For now, get settled, and we can show you around the mansion tonight!”  After a flirty wink, she disappeared, granting the travel-weary Team Suga a quiet reprieve.

Tobio and Hinata’s room reminded Tobio of a less spacious fancy hotel suite.  Upon entry they faced two full-sized beds, the headboards of which spanned along the far wall under a gigantic mural of the Orion Nebula.  Against the stark black background, the large painting adopted some artistic freedoms, exaggerating portions of the nebula in warm, aesthetically pleasing hues of blue and pink, all highlighted in dramatic white.  

The room echoed the painting’s palette, the beds topped with fluffy-looking white duvets busy with light pink embroidery and crisp white sheets, which Hinata wasted no time flopping on.  The remaining three walls were painted an unassuming pale blue, like the hot stars around which they orbited.  The mural gave a bit of life to the underground room, Tobio momentarily forgetting they were deep within a planet’s interior.

Fortunately, the marble flooring did not extend into the bedrooms, and Tobio’s ankles felt a little wobbly on the thick pile of the light gray carpet.  He looked forward to taking his shoes off and mushing it between his toes, something he did almost impulsively a luxury hotels.

The kitchenette in the leftmost corner looked bored from lack of use, the dark speckled marble countertops reflecting the subdued, almost romantic light in the room supplied by sconces high up on the walls.  A series of doors next to the kitchenette probably led to a bathroom and several linen closets.

Tobio looked over at his new roommate who was still rolling over excitedly on the left bed.  “I guess you picked a bed.”

“Can you believe it, Kageyama?  This place is so _cool!_  They make their own water!  And did you see the obnoxious couches downstairs?  Rich people are so weird!” the young man rambled.  Hinata manically fluttered around the room after messing up his bed, popping in to inspect the bathroom only to return a moment later to start in on the lighting.  Tobio found his small pack on the floor by the door and dragged it over to the other bed.  His knees gave with a tired sigh as he sat on its cushy pillowtop, mutely observing Hinata’s exploration.  Just watching the young man bounce all over made him want to sink further into the bed.

After the emotional trip through the wormhole, he needed a few minutes to steel himself from the prospect of sharing a room with Hinata.

Hinata was incomprehensible to Tobio.  He was surprised the young man was still so optimistic after all that’d happened to him, and he’d managed to calm down very quickly on the precipice of his first rapid space voyage... _because of Tobio._  He somehow had the strength to trust people he barely knew, trust _him_ , he who didn’t deserve his trust at all.

He’d watched the young man take in the sights, the awe and wonder in his expression triggering some kind of pride in Tobio, that he could be there to show him the world, the Galaxy--something he’d never felt towards another person before.  And when they’d locked eyes in the cascading illumination of the black hole, he figured he imagined the heavy feeling in the air between them but let it carry him away nonetheless.  But for a time, maybe even just for a second, it was almost as if Hinata’s expression echoed the adoration he knew he failed to disguise on his own face.  

As Hinata fluttered around, oblivious to Tobio’s thoughts, he shook his head and sighed again.  The young man had enough on his plate already without Tobio’s vivid imagination, which he failed to rein in during his last shower and now on board the ship.   _What the fuck is wrong with you?  You don’t want to hurt him, do you?_

Mostly just pissed off at himself and his stupid feelings, he suddenly reached his stimuli limit and lashed out at the least deserving recipient.  “Can’t you sit still for half a second?” Tobio scathed.

Hinata stopped in front of the open refrigerator door, turning to give Tobio a slightly hurt look before he moped over to sit on the other bed.

“Sorry,” he murmured.  “I just, I haven’t been anywhere like this before.”

_Way to go, you fucking asshole._ “We should go to dinner,” Tobio replied quietly.

“Um, okay.  I wonder if they have any spare clothes,” Hinata remarked as he swung his legs idly off the edge of the bed, his feet comically high above the floor.

“Mine are all dirty.  Maybe the Tanakas can get us something.”

Hinata crawled over the width of his bed and slid open the closet doors.  “Look, Kageyama!”  The young man grabbed a few things and hustled to the bathroom, emerging no more than a minute later with Tobio’s sweater in tow.  He sat back down on the edge of the bed, facing Tobio and watching him with his wide, brown eyes.

Tobio flushed at the undivided attention, gluing his eyes to his bare feet on the carpet.  An awkward silence persisted, Tobio not practiced at maintaining casual conversation, ruminating over what he could possibly say to Hinata.   _I don’t know how to do this, for fuck’s sake._ He could see Hinata fidgeting a little in his periphery, attuned to the young man’s movements across the divide between the beds.  He refused to look at the young man in case he decided to have another little moment over it.

He closed his eyes and and tried to relax, but remnants of his state of mind during the wormhole journey lingered.  

_How could I possibly like someone like him?_

Hinata eventually broke the silence with whispered words, “Would you mind if… if I kept your sweater?”

Too surprised to stop himself, Tobio’s eyes flashed up to look the young man in the eye.  “What?”

Hinata held up the cream-colored sweater, the oversized material dwarfing the young man’s frame.  Tobio wasn’t particularly attached to it, and... it looked better on him, anyway.

“Oh.  Uh… I guess,” Tobio mumbled, feeling his flush travel down his chest.

Hinata smiled, lighting up the dark room and Tobio’s _whole fucking world_ as he pulled the sweater over his head and snaked his arms through the sleeves.

“Thanks,” Hinata whispered.  Suddenly, as if on cue, the young man’s stomach broke the charged silence.

Wide pairs of eyes met each other and they both helplessly _snickered_ at Hinata’s growling stomach, Tobio’s smile persisting at the soft reddening of Hinata’s cheeks.

_Fuck, how could I_ not _?_

Flabbergasted, Tobio responded, partly to escape the path his own thoughts were taking, “Come on, let’s go eat.”

\----

Shouyou and Kageyama left their room, bumping into Sugawara and Sawamura on their way down.

“How do you know the Tanakas, Sugawara?  Are they friends from college, too?” he asked.

The priest smiled and ruffled Shouyou’s hair, the two of them pairing off to walk in front of Sawamura and Kageyama.

“Actually, no.  I officiated at one of their friends’ weddings.  We had so much fun together at the reception that the Tanakas have extended their hospitality to me several times since, but I’ve never been here!  I don’t think I’ve ever been _inside_ a planet,” Sugawara confided.

“Me either!” Shouyou was glad to not be the only one.  “How long do you think we’ll be here?”

“Not sure, Hinata.  Our resident geniuses seem to think the evil is too far away to be of danger to Earth right now, but I suspect they’ll check often for any changes.”

Their walk led them to the top of the stairs, where the smell of food wafted up to his nostrils, a smoky, tangy scent he only associated with building rooftops, not subterranian mansions.  Back in high school, after a week-long volleyball camp hosted by another building’s team, the managers and coaches managed to rent part of a building rooftop to hold a full-out barbeque for all the players on the final day.

The café he worked at-- _used to work at--_ served more upscale fare; the braised, sweet meats typical of barbeque were too lowbrow (and messy) for powerful businessmen and engineers.  Unfortunately, he followed suit: what with his modest pay, most of his meals had been leftovers the manager was just going to throw away anyway.  He’d cooked in his apartment, but he wasn’t very good at it, opting for toast or something easy like cereal more often than not.  He’d been delighted with the food on Akaashi’s ship, and now just the tease of an imminent meaty feast in this rich duo’s underground _exoplanet mansion_ had him hopping as he descended the foyer’s staircase.

They needn’t directions to the kitchen; the smells guided their path down a hallway opposite the stairs from the foyer.  The sounds of their footfalls down the tiled hallway were soon drowned out as they came within earshot of a bustling kitchen.  The kitchen door was slid closed, light from within bursting out of a circular window too high for Hinata to use, projecting a glowing orb on the shiny marble tiles.  Sounds pushed through the doorway: yelling chefs, the hiss of steam, the clanging of kitchen equipment.

Ryuu burst out of the kitchen door then, waving his hands towards him.  “This way, guys!”  He slid the kitchen door closed behind him and led Shouyou and the others down the long, tiled hallway until it ended in a massive room, extending deep to their left and right.  

Even Shouyou’s wildest daydreams hadn’t prepared him for the opulent sight before him.  Light from crystalline chandeliers hung from the multi-domed, vaulted ceiling twinkled down on a long table made of real wood, draped protectively with a shiny gold runner.   Shouyou resisted the urge to shout out _echo_ to see if it would work.  Oversized high-backed padded chairs fit in slots around the table, enough to seat several full volleyball teams (including the bench-warmers) all at once.  Most place settings were empty except for a handful at the far left end of the table, where Saeko was already seated with Kuroo and Kozume.

Still taking in the sight before him, the voice of his comrade startled him.  “Where’s Akaashi?” Sawamura asked after his friend.  

Kuroo shrugged at the same time Kozume spoke up, “Bokuto is in a lot of pain, but he’s finally sleeping.  I told Akaashi we’d bring up plates for them later.”

“How do you know but I don’t?” Kuroo asked rhetorically, eyes shifting over to Kozume.

Shouyou worried for Bokuto, but Sugawara placed a warm hand on his shoulder and steered him towards a seat at the table.  The four of them sat on the vacant side of the table, with Ryuu puffed up proudly at the table’s head.  Shouyou bent forward to check on Kageyama who was sandwiched between Sugawara and Sawamura and engrossed in conversation with the latter.

Not long after they were all seated did an army of staff members file out of a hidden service door carrying an assortment of large covered trays, bringing with them the delicious smokiness that soon pervaded the entire dining hall.

The staff leaned forward in perfect synchronization, bestowing the silver platters on the table runner between the diners.  In dramatic fashion, they lifted the covers of the food simultaneously, releasing a _whoof_ of steam that once dissipated revealed an array of meats slathered in thick sauces.  Fresh grilled vegetables accompanied the mess of meat, scorch marks revealing they’d been grilled, too.

Shouyou grabbed his fork, prodding the offerings right as Ryuu said “dig in!”  His plate soon became inundated with a tower of meat, only Kageyama’s portion rivaling his own.

“Jesus, kid,” Kuroo remarked, enunciating the words despite his full mouth.

They busied themselves with the food, the only sounds between them the ripping apart of meat and the irregular clanking of discarded bones.  Shouyou felt a little bad about messily gorging himself in such an upscale environment, but felt a better after seeing that Kageyama was eating with even less finesse.  While he didn’t care if the patrons at his café were messy or not, he knew the effort it took to serve food so professionally.

He glanced up at Ryuu to offer an apology but when the man met eyes with his, he just laughed.

“Yo, _supreme being_ , you’ve got sauce all over your face!”

Shouyou blushed, taking the napkin Sugawara proffered and wiped at his cheeks.  After a few moments, as if to help, Kuroo pointed at him from across the table.  “You missed a spot.  Or ten.”

“You’re even worse,” Kozume quipped.  

“WHAT?  No way!” Kuroo replied, furiously scrubbing at his face with the napkin he stole from Kozume.  The whole table laughed weakly, bellies full, exhaustion starting to weigh on them now that the hum of adrenaline from the past few days had abated.

In his post-meal fatigue, Shouyou leaned back in his high-back chair and silently observed his new friends.  Across the table, the usually stoic Kozume was smiling a little; he’d taken the napkin from Kuroo to wipe his face for him.  Kuroo let him, watching his partner but for a moment before attacking, pushing Kozume’s arms away and kissing all over his formerly clean face.  Shouyou giggled as he watched, the sight before him bringing up thoughts of Kageyama, for some reason.

He looked around Sugawara at Kageyama who looked distinctly uncomfortable, so clearly outside of the conversation between Sugawara and Sawamura but stuck in the middle anyway, socially-acceptable escape impossible.  The man still wore his navy blue zip-up from the wormhole trip and Shouyou couldn’t help but notice how the collar teased the black hair at the back of his neck, the strands curling over the hem, just a little too long.  He wondered if it was as soft as it looked.  The jacket stretched over his tall, hunched-over frame, long arms folded over his lean stomach so naturally as if he’d been programmed all his life to underplay his height.  Shouyou followed the jacket’s white track stripe down Kageyama’s arm, his periphery picking up on Kageyama's fidgeting leg, bouncing about erratically and hidden from the diners underneath the table.  

Shouyou’s eyes moved back up to his face and found that a flush had crept up on the man's cheeks, his sharp blue eyes looking between Sawamura and the diners across the table, observant but silent.  Shouyou smiled at the man, eyes tidally locked to his-- _handsome_ \--face.  He realized this was the first time he got to just look at Kageyama without worrying about some crazy spaceship crap like warp speed travel and descents into wormholes, and he found that he couldn’t look away.

That is, until Kageyama started to turn his head in Shouyou’s direction, startling him from his reverie.  He quickly diverted his eyes somewhere else, _anywhere_ else before he got caught but-- Kozume.  Kozume had been watching him watch… _him._

_Oh god…_ his eyes fluttered elsewhere again, moving around the glittering dining room as fleetingly as the reflections of light danced off the multifaceted chandeliers; he wasn’t ready for anyone to prod him about his feelings, feelings for _him_ , because he didn’t really understand them himself.

He now reasoned that, at the very least, the man probably didn't hate him, a thought he'd entertained after waking up in the hotel.  There was _no way_.  While Kageyama wore a scowl so easily on his face, Shouyou could sense that he'd tried, really tried, to talk to Shouyou, even if he may have gotten frustrated at his lack of nerdy know-how.  The weirdest of all, while Kageyama kept close enough to him for Shouyou to feel the warmth of his body on their tour of Z Ori-a, and when they were all alone in their room upstairs, Shouyou’s heart had revved up its staccato beat.   _Does that happen around friends?_  He didn't really know; it had been so long since he’d had them.

He doesn’t recall noticing how his friends’ clothes fit them, nor did he recall liking the way they _smelled_.  Kageyama wouldn’t be the first man Shouyou became attracted to, but all his previous fixations were from afar, temporary and unrealized.  He’d never dated any men or talked about it much at all with anyone, too swept up with volleyball in high school and... too isolated afterwards.  What, was he going to start dating a rich jerk from the café or something?

But if anyone fit that bill, that _more-than-friends_ ticket, it was Kageyama, with his mean glare that tried to scare away anyone from getting too close to his big heart.

He smirked at himself.   _We're_ maybe _friends._

Saeko stood up and assessed the group with her sharp eyes, drawing Shouyou’s attention away from Kageyama.  “You folks look pretty beat, so let’s hold off on the tour and just go crash in the movie room before calling it a night, yeah?”

Nods all around, everyone lumbered to their feet gingerly straightening their bodies to avoid _too-much-food-itis_.  Ryuu and Saeko led them out of the dining room and through a series of twists and turns that Shouyou barely registered, travel weary, eventually coming upon a wooden door that was sheathed behind some heavy velvet drapes.

Whereas the dining room was all porcelain, crystal, and gold runners, this room was just the opposite.  Dark save a few muted light fixtures on the entrance wall, the ground was littered with tons of cushions in varying sizes and colors, each of which looked capable of swallowing a person or two.  Underneath him, the soft foam flooring molded to Shouyou's bare feet as he walked in further, and he bounced a little to test its cushioning.  Movie posters adorned the left and right walls of the big room, leading the eye to the blank back wall, the perfect size for a big screen.

_The movie room!_

“Get cozy, kids, and I’ll put on a classic.  Any requests?”

The others mumbled their thoughts about their movie preferences but Shouyou wasted no time, dive-bombing onto a nearby cushion near the back of the room.  He sort of felt like a kid again on this crazy voyage, that all-consuming excitement of new people and places and things he'd missed for so many years coming back in full force with every new step he took on this journey.  He turned to face the screen on his stomach as the others slowly filtered in, walking around and choosing places to sit.  Sugawara and Sawamura settled in together a ways in front of Shouyou, Sawamura tucking Sugawara into his side with a big arm around his shoulders.  Sugawara threw his priest robes over the two of them like a blanket.

Shouyou sighed dreamily at them, looking around for -- _oh!_  Kageyama was still loitering around the room’s entrance, eyes unseeing.

“Kageyama!” he yelled, waving the man over.

Kageyama startled and looked over, eventually pulling up an orange cushion next to Shouyou.  They sat in awkward silence for a moment, the room’s soft edges buffering the quiet conversations of the people around them.   _Don’t think about him like that, don't blurt anything stupid, Shou…_

“Do you like movies, Kageyama?”   _Nailed it._

The man nodded, turning his head to look at Shouyou.  “I… yes.  When I…”

Shouyou turned on his side to fully face him, and blushed when he noticed Kageyama tracking his movements, his body, pausing until Shouyou settled on the cushion to finish his train of thought.

_Does he…_

“...when, uhm, we dock on Earth in between missions, I stay in hotels.  Sometimes I watch movies in the rooms.”

“Do you have a favorite movie?” Shouyou bent his arm on the cushion, resting his head in his hand, trying real hard to act casual despite the butterflies-- no, _bees--_ wreaking havoc on his stomach.   _Stupid bees._

“No… but I guess I like scary ones.”  Kageyama stopped short, now staring intently at his fidgeting fingers.  Thinking Kageyama would eventually elaborate, Shouyou waited, watching.  He just needed a little time.

“Do… do you?” the man stuttered, impossible to hear outside of their conversational bubble, still watching his fingers.

_Busy little bees._

Shouyou tried to keep it light since the man was clearly nervous.  He was so unlike anyone he’d ever met before!  “The scary ones are my favorite, too.  But I guess I startle easily.  My sister used to make fun of me when we were kids for jumping during the surprise parts.  I can’t really help it.”   _Stop rambling, idiot!_

“You have a sister…”

“Yeah!  Her name is Natsu.  She’s younger than me by a few years.  She went off to college to become an engineer for” _\--waitaminute--_ “I think she actually works for the Tanakas!  Anyway, we haven’t spoken in a while but I think she’s doing really great!  People say we look a lot alike.”

Their conversation lulled, but Shouyou’s curiosity got the better of him.  He really wanted to learn more about this guy and strengthen this weird, new tether between them, an unknown quantity containing equal parts budding friendship and-- _god_ , and _attraction_.   _Maybe he’d let me ask about--_ “Do you have any siblings, Kageyama?” he asked quietly.

Kageyama shook his head mutely, expression unreadable in the dim room.  “I’m… not very close with my parents, either.  I left home early to go to university.”

Shouyou nodded.  “Oh wow, I knew you were smart!  My parents don’t like that I started to work at a café at all.  I..." Shouyou paused, wondering if he could say the words out loud.  "I was really good at volleyball, and planned on going pro," he managed, his previously genuine smile now feeling too big, forced.  An expression he mastered at the café to earn more tips.

Kageyama’s whole head turned to show Shouyou his comically wide eyes.

“Oh, it’s okay!  I mean, it's okay, it was a stupid dream anyway...” he rambled off, shaking his head, looking away from Kageyama.

He could still feel the man's eyes on him, Shouyou’s heart pounding under his intense perusal.

Before Kageyama could reply (if he planned to at all), Saeko announced that she had selected a movie and dimmed the lights.  The bright pictures on display thrust the room into a contrasting mix of very dark and very light, making the room’s shadows that much more prominent.  Shouyou observed the silhouette of Sugawara and Sawamura, their heads turned and pressed close for what Shouyou thought must have been a kiss.  He stared a bit too long, bees buzzing, shifting his gaze over to Kageyama.  The man didn’t look very comfortable (not that he ever did) but he watched the movie anyway.

He shook his head and stopped acting like a voyeur, making a college try at focusing on the movie but unable to force his full attention.

\----

After the movie, they crept up the stairs to hit the hay.  It had been a long day for everyone, and though Tobio slept well the night before on the ship, he could have used a good night’s--day’s-- _whatever_ sleep in something not moving for once.  Or, well, something he couldn’t tell was moving, as he reminded himself that the whole of Z Ori-a travelled within the Orion Spur through the Galaxy at a modest 140 miles per second.  
  
Space, the ultimate time machine.  
  
The others bid them a good night before Tobio and Hinata entered their private quarters.  Hinata rushed to use the bathroom and shucked his ( _his_ ) sweater, slipping into bed otherwise fully clothed.  Other than that, the young man seemed uncharacteristically quiet and he worried, but it had been a long day for everyone, Tobio reasoned.  
  
Tobio took his turn getting ready, too, stopping to inspect the closets.  He was surprised to find even more clothes than before; the Tanakas must have warned the house staff of his need and stocked the room accordingly.  Feeling unusually appreciative, he dutifully ignored his semi from watching Hinata’s shirt ride up _the whole fucking movie_ as he shut himself in the bathroom.  He found a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet that was wrapped in plastic, and some toothpaste Hinata had left out. He brushed his teeth, placing the brush on the sink next to the one Hinata chose.  
  
He hit the lights by the bathroom wall, his mind carefully reconstructing the path to his bed so he could navigate the pitch dark room, arms outstretched in front of him.  He found his bed and snuggled deep under the rich duvet and passed out immediately, missing Hinata’s soft “good night, Kageyama.”

\----

He was alone in a stark field, a field that didn’t exist anywhere real as far as he knew.  A star beat down its radiation onto him, and the winds smacked brown, rusty dust against his face; he quickly closed his eyes against the onslaught.  His black hair whipped all over as he turned a full three-sixty to get his bearings, debris crunching underneath his feet as he peeked an eye out from its squinty lid.  He couldn’t see shit-- no creepy outpost, or trees, or a trail, or a fucking clue, just nothing.

He was angry, _so_ angry-- _why do I have to have fucking dreams like this--_ when he suddenly heard a faint noise.  No, not the noise of the wind smashing into the side of his head, but a voice, a familiar one, piercing through the empty field and demanding his attention.  He waited, the voice’s waves increasing in amplitude as if the source were getting closer, closer, _closer_.  He knew this made no fucking sense, there was nothing and no one here, but as the voice reached a shrill peak he--

Gasping, he woke up in bed, bolting upright at the sound of screaming.  Really loud screaming from somewhere nearby.   _It_ was _real._  It was--

_Hinata?_

He jumped from his bed towards the noisy lump across the room.  

“Hinata?  Hinata!” he barked, standing over the screaming and thrashing young man clearly in the throes of a nightmare, shaking him with both hands to wake him up.  When Hinata quieted down, Tobio leaned forward, stopping himself from kneeling on the bed to get closer.

“Ka… Kageyama?  Is that you?” Hinata woke, his voice weak and shaky.

“Yeah, it’s me, Hinata.”

“Oh god, Kageyama, I was dreaming, I was--they were trying to get me again, and I couldn’t get away, the cell was so small, and, and--” he rambled, the rest of the words Tobio muffled by some new buzzing in his ears.  Tobio couldn’t help as his shaking hand constricted its grasp on the frightened young man’s shoulder.

“Hinata, did they... hurt you?  In the prison?” he growled his interruption, the timbre of his voice unfamiliar to his own ears.

“I-I don’t remember everything, I was b-barely even conscious, and it was so _cold_ , and… and… please, Kageyama?”

_Please, Kageyama?_  Tobio rubbed his left hand up and down on the lump in the bed, that heady feeling overwhelming him again, not understanding what Hinata was asking for but doing the only thing he knew might help.

“Please, w-will you… stay?”

A pregnant silence descended as Tobio considered his answer, not wanting to impose himself but _god I really want to._

_You’ll hurt him, you fucking idiot._

“I’m right in the bed over there, Hinata, I’m not leaving this ro--”

“No!” Hinata interrupted in a manic shout.  “I- I mean... with me?  Here?” his voice turned vulnerable with his last words, low and broken, and Tobio could hear his hand move around on the duvet near him.

Tobio wished with all his might, he prayed that he could trade in anything, _everything_ , just to see Hinata’s face in that moment, but the pitch dark room made his wish impossible no matter his offering.

“No.”

Hinata seemed to tremble harder at his answer, his sniffling returning, but he didn’t _get it--_

“No, no, I mean… not…  in your bed.  The… sheets.  You probably messed them up.  Yeah.  You… you can come over to mine.  With me.”

He couldn’t believe the fucking words fumbling out of his mouth.

“R-really?” Hinata pleaded as he clung to Tobio, letting the man help him from his bed.  The pair of them fell into Tobio’s and curled up together, limbs intertwined as if magnetically drawn.  

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Hinata whispered, plastering himself to Tobio’s side.  “Please don’t leave.”

Or his _._


	6. Money Is Of No Importance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The planet of Z Ori-a holds some unexpected wonders for Team Suga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5/17/17 Chapters 1-5 have been seriously re-worked, especially regarding Hinata's backstory. If you've read from the beginning after this date, you're good to go :)

Awareness came to Tobio slowly; behind his eyelids he sensed the quiet room was bathed in a morning glow.  Underneath him was a divine softness, the bed’s comfort at a peak after his warm, relaxed muscles conditioned it throughout the night.  But not just _his_.

Hinata was curled up in his arms, his face pressed to Tobio’s shirt close enough that Tobio felt the young man’s deep, slow exhales on his chest.  Tobio hadn’t noticed how his fingers had embedded themselves in the young man’s messy orange hair, or how they’d crept under the hem of Hinata’s shirt sometime in the night until he’d woken up a little more.  Tobio stiffened to move away, extricating his arms from around Hinata so as to not wake him.  

Even though Hinata proved he could withstand stress with a resilience Tobio had never before seen, Tobio still wanted nothing more than to keep the young man close, keep him safe from the perils of the universe, the perils of humanity of which Tobio was so familiar, even if he didn’t need it.  He let the protective impulse carry him away, and for a few moments he fought the urge to pull Hinata back to his body.

_Just because he’s strong, doesn’t mean he always_ has _to be._

But something about their conversation last night in the movie room surprised him; Hinata confided in him his long-abandoned dreams of playing professional volleyball.   _Did he give up on his dream?  It’s not like him to give up on a dream…_

He’d wanted to probe for more details but was waylaid by the movie, his chances cruelly dashed of carrying on a longer conversation for once in his life.  He knew Hinata would probably tell him even if it was personal to him, and he wanted to hear all about it.  In many ways, Hinata was everything Tobio was not: extroverted, resilient, hopeful _._

_Beautiful._

The only hope Tobio had was that Hinata would feel better when he woke up after his nightmares had lashed at him, but  Tobio knew from experience that sometimes nothing really made the demons go away.  At least he wouldn’t be alone, like Tobio always had been.

The young man shifted and started to wake, his eyes blinking away the remnants of sleep.  His movements slow, he shifted his head to look up at Tobio and smile.

_God, that smile._

“Now you’re watching me sleep?  So creepy,” Hinata joked.

Tobio blushed and looked away for a second, wishing there was more bed for him to escape to.  “D-dumbass.  You… you okay?”   _Is that my voice?_

Hinata’s smile faded, but he nodded.  “Yeah.  Yeah, I think I am.”

“Good.”

“You know...” Hinata paused, looking down to watch his hand idly tapping the sheet beneath him.  “... you’ve looked after me since this all began, Kageyama,” he finished quietly.

Tobio sputtered, speechless, the ringing in his ears turning the quiet room noisy.

“Thank you, Kageyama.”  The young man smiled.  “Want to get breakfast with me?”

Grateful for the save, Kageyama looked over at the clock above the bedroom door.  “More like lunch?”

“I bet they’ll still make me pancakes!”

Hinata pounced out from the covers, ruining the cozy warm nest of the bed.  Tobio eventually followed, turning to tuck the sheets and duvet back to a semi-presentable state-- _eh, what’s the point, now we’ll just have to untuck it before going back to sleep tonight._

_Wait--we?_

They abandoned the notion of dressing to impress around Team Suga--flashes of Bokuto’s _bunny slippers_ returning to Tobio’s mind _\--_ and they left their room still wearing their bedclothes, all soft wrinkled T-shirts and old-school plaid flannel pants.  Tobio looked down at Hinata’s disheveled state, finding him discretely smelling his shirt.   _The fuck?_ Through the hallway and down the stairs, they hastened to the dining room, the marble freezing under their feet.  

“Race ya!”  Hinata shot off, leaving Tobio sputtering-- _again_ \--in his wake.

“That’s not fair, you dumbass!” he yelled, his feet slapping against the slabs as he tried in vain to catch up.  Hinata won, the two falling into the dining room in a heaving and sweaty mess.

“1-0!” Hinata laughed, springing up to look around the dining room space.  Their friends were already assembled at the far end of the table, clustering together, the aroma of food in the air.

“Is that your age or your IQ?” Kuroo deadpanned without looking up from his food.  Bokuto snorted next to him.

Sugawara shook his head.  “Good morning you two, hungry?”  
  
Hinata nodded and approached the table, Tobio following closely behind so they could sit together, unlike last time.

Once seated, the table space in front of him illuminated, revealing an embedded tablet menu that he started deftly panning through, suddenly entertaining a craving for fucking pancakes.

_What am I, five?_

“What are you doing?”

Kageyama looked over to find Hinata staring at him with wide eyes; he was a little surprised someone in the foodservice industry hadn’t seen a table menu before.  He sighed with faux impatience as he leaned towards Hinata to tap the table in front of him, activating the digital menu where his place setting would’ve been.

Food ordered, Tobio fled from Hinata’s personal space, the menu dimming and disappearing under the magic wood of the table.

“Kageyama.”

They both looked up at Kozume.  “We need to set up a schedule to monitor the evil.  Ryuu showed me where we can get set up,” the hacker stated.

Tobio nodded.  “Do we need to get anything off the ship?”

Kozume shook his head, swinging his pin-straight hair back and forth across his assessing yellow eyes.  “I already took care of it.”  The hacker continued seriously, his eyes unblinking, “I think from here on out we should limit our uplinks.  They know you’re involved in this and are willing to kill you.  They’ll be waiting for you to make a mistake.  I can cover you only so far; I don’t know who they have.”

_Okay, just assume the worst: got it._

Just then two high stacks of pancakes arrived in the deft hands of a Tanaka waitress, topped enticingly with whipped cream and berries.  She smiled, placing them in front of Hinata and Tobio.  Hinata laughed, his smile lighting up the room and Tobio forced himself to ignore the cute young man long enough to shovel some food in his face.

\----

Later that day Saeko dragged them all to an elevator, her poker face revealing nothing of their surprise.

Tobio _hated_ surprises.

The elevator door slid open, revealing-- _a pool?_

Usually only the ultra-elite denizens of Earth buildings had regular access to pools, but Tobio supposed that as a guest of the Tanakas, he _was_ the ultra-elite.  For now, anyways.  Saeko stepped back, unclipping her innocuous looking dress to reveal a bright red bikini.

“Hope you like to swim!” she laughed, running off to jump in the water.  

Hinata made to run after her, but Tobio grabbed his shirt roughly to stop him.   _Baka._

“Over there,” Ryuu nodded off to their right, “are changing rooms with a few spare suits in them.  Last one in the pool’s a mangalore!”

Taking the challenge seriously, Bokuto and Kuroo bolted for the changing rooms.  Hinata turned to face him, hindered by the death grip Tobio had on his shirt.

“Hey… uh… you okay?”

Tobio let go and stepped back.  “Why wouldn’t I be?” he shot back.

Hinata shrugged but narrowed his eyes as he assessed Tobio, turning for the changing rooms without a word.

Tobio looked around uncomfortably while everyone else donned their swimsuits, unable to picture himself taking off his clothes in front of people anytime soon, if ever.  He spotted a row of artful pool furniture on the far side of the room and headed over, sitting and leaning back, crossing his arms over his chest.  The wicker bit at his ass, worsening his short fuse.  His whole body itched, and his face felt hot.  His urge to get the fuck out warred with his desire to hide his reaction from everyone else.

Movement to his left, Kozume pulling up a similar chair next to him.  Neither of them prone to conversation, Tobio turned after a long silence to ask about Tanaka’s tech set up only to find Kozume watching Kuroo roughhouse with Bokuto in the water, his attention rapt.

“He likes you, you know,” Kozume said, his cat eyes suddenly assessing Tobio a little too closely.

The man’s words startled him, Tobio pushing back in his chair impulsively to avoid their impact.  His movement caused a leg of his chair to catch on a tile crevice, disrupting his balance.

_Mayday, mayday--_

“ _Shit,_ ” he corrected himself by lifting the chair and crossed his arms back over his chest in a tizzy.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

Those cat eyes looked away from Tobio to track Hinata coming out of the changing room, who had on a pair of bright orange swim trunks with the number ten embroidered in white on the leg.   _God._

“I didn’t take you for an idiot,” Kozume mused, whipping out his tablet and scanning the screen rapidly as if he’d never spoken at all, his left-field declaration a specter in the air that made Tobio question his reality.

Tobio looked back to see Hinata sprinting towards the pool edge.  He jumped up and grabbed his knees before striking the surface with a significant splash, Kuroo and Bokuto applauding and nodding their heads as if finding the young man worthy.

Away from the ruckus, Tobio watched as Sugawara prudishly poked a toe in the pool while Sawamura stalked him from behind.  The second baseman tackled the priest, catapulting them both into the water with a painful-sounding _smack._

“DAICHI!” Sugawara yelled as he surfaced.  He wiped his hair from his face and affixed a savage glare on Sawamura, whose shoulders shook enough to create their own interference pattern in the water.  The idiot duo plus Hinata joined them, the group chatting animatedly as they waded in the crystal blue water.

Tobio sighed and looked away, folding in on himself, wanting, no--needing to get behind a terminal screen and toy with some of his old models.  His hands shook with the force of his need.  Nothing calmed him down quite like running tests on data, but he could spend an entire day scoping out the Tanaka mansion looking for their tech, and he wasn’t sure how to get back on the Karasuno.  He shifted to ask Kozume if he wanted to leave to check on the evil when the clucking of waves nearby drew his attention.

“Kageyama, come get in the water!”  Hinata had paddled over to the edge of the pool closest to Tobio and looked up with sparkling brown eyes, his hair all plastered and saturated on his head.  The young man took to the pool easily despite the high probability he’d never been in one before.

“I’m fine.”

“Come on, Kageyama, we were going to play some volleyball and need--”

“I said _no_ , alright?” Tobio snapped, internally cringing at his own acerbic tone, but once the words were out there was nothing he could do.

Hinata’s face pinched and Tobio felt the young man’s gaze penetrate his skin, as if he could actually see Tobio’s internal struggle, his irritability, his itchiness.

He couldn’t stand the staring, _the eyes on him_ , and he stormed out, the pokey wicker chair falling backwards behind him.

\----

_What was that all about?_

Shouyou watched the man go, his motions stilted.  After seven years serving at an upscale café, Shouyou had learned a thing or two about reading the moods of his customers; even before that, he knew just when to bring down the anxiety of his younger teammates back in high school.

Something about the pool put Kageyama on the defensive from the get-go.

It had the opposite effect on Shouyou, the water like a balm to his thoughts, it’s cold temperature refreshing and cleansing.  He thought about Kageyama with renewed clarity, and he realized that some of his loneliness dissipated in his presence.  His high school teammates may have betrayed him, but in this short, tumultuous span of time as the fifth element, Kageyama was always _there_.

He made for the pool edge to follow him, to reciprocate somehow, but Bokuto called behind him to join in on a game.  

_Kageyama might just want some space, anyway..._

After a few rounds of-- _chicken?_ \--winning repeatedly against Sawamura and Sugawara atop Bokuto’s shoulders, he got out of the water and rushed off in search of his friend.  Even if the man was in a terrible mood and wouldn’t tell him anything, he’d be there for Kageyama.

Kageyama was always there for him, but it was more than that.  Shouyou was starting to think it was much more than that, maybe for _both_ of them, the memory of Kageyama’s blue eyes on him that night in the movie theater making him blush.

Shouyou didn’t find Kageyama in their room, so he hopped in the shower to rinse off the weird pool smell and change back into his clothes.  He emerged from the bathroom distracted, thoughts churning as to where Kageyama could have run off to as he towel dried his unruly orange hair.

Shouyou eventually looked up and froze; sometime during his shower, Kageyama had entered their room, and he was now seated quietly on his own bed.  The only light in the room flowed from the bathroom, illuminating his fierce scowl face-on..

His eyes, though--his eyes beseeched Shouyou in the dark to understand.

_I’ll try, Kageyama…_

Shouyou waited, somehow standing stock-still despite the rapid pulsing of blood through his veins.  Kageyama’s shoulders were in his ears, his hands clutching the sides of the bed.  

_He just needs a little time._

“...Are you okay?”

“I’m…” Kageyama looked down, silent.

Shouyou hesitated for only a moment before letting his familiar impulse to be close to Kageyama carry him over to the bed, where he sat down right next to him and took his hand.  He watched the man’s scowl soften, his eyes cast far away towards some distant universe, blush fierce on his face.

“I don’t… I don’t have many reasons for liking people, Hinata.”

Shouyou squeezed his hand and rested his head on Kageyama’s shoulder, not understanding but _being there_ anyway.  His heart sang when Kageyama didn’t push him away, knowing how little contact he usually allowed.

They sat like that for a while, Shouyou feeling Kageyama’s comforting body heat transmit through his shirt, warming his cheek.

“You’re one of them,” Kageyama spoke, barely above a whisper.

Shouyou huddled closer to Kageyama’s side at that, if that was even possible.

After a while, Shouyou felt the tension in Kageyama’s shoulder ease but his instincts warned him not to bring up Kageyama’s mood swings just yet.   _A little time._  “Hey, Kageyama?  What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from Earth?”

Kageyama’s hand squeezed back.

\----

The next few days followed a paradigm: they’d sleep in and eat whatever they wanted for breakfast, after which they indulged in movies or games, interspersed with frequent checks on any new data found via the strong and well-disguised Tanaka uplink.  Their time was binned into a series of lavish lunches, dinners, or so-called linners-- _three guesses who coined that_ \--if they became too distracted to eat on time.  Before he knew it, a week had passed, still in limbo, the government still much deadlier to the lot of them than some evil tens of thousands of light years away.   _For now._

Hinata stuck by his side most of the time except at night; the young man didn’t return to Tobio’s bed, despite how much Tobio secretly wanted him to.  He wasn’t sure why he wanted Hinata there so badly, considering how awkward it was for him to be on the brunt end of Hinata’s open gratitude.   _Because I’m a fucking idiot, that’s why._

Fuck, of course he knew why he wanted Hinata there; nothing felt better than waking up next to him.  Hinata’s nightmares had abated, but a small, disgusting part of Tobio wished they would return so he’d have an excuse.

After the pool incident, Tobio hadn’t really told Hinata anything, he _couldn’t_ , but acknowledging that he actually wanted to lifted a burdensome weight from his shoulders.  In the short amount of time they’d known each other, Tobio had grown to want more of everything with Hinata.  And for some reason, the young man wasn’t completely repulsed by him.

_God._

Throughout the week, they stole moments to talk privately, Hinata sharing things about his family and funny stories from the café where he’d worked for seven years.  Tobio’s life was pretty boring in comparison-- _cross validation, whoop de doo--_ so about a week later, as they hunkered in the massive couch in Tanaka’s so-called sky room, he shared the only thing he thought would keep Hinata interested in hanging around him, because he wanted him to--he _really_ wanted him to--

“My favorite exoplanet is Luxate, but Z Ori-a is a close second.”

“Where is Luxate?”

“A clue to that is hidden in the name, actually.  It’s derived from the latin root _lux-_ , meaning to dislocate.  The planet was stripped from the orbit of its host star, but a runaway star intercepted it so now they are both flying away from the Galaxy.”

Hinata shifted, turning on the huge couch to face Tobio better.  “Can that happen to Earth, Kageyama?”

Tobio nodded, “Yes, but the likelihood is small.”  He paused, thinking of why he liked the planet so much.  “Its location makes for excellent scouting.  It’s the only planet humans have colonized outside the disk.”

“So wait… a disk… the Milky Way is flat?”

Tobio nodded.  “What we can see with our eyes, anyway.  It’s flat… like a pancake.”  He was secretly proud he thought of an analogy that might appeal to his always-hungry companion and his oft-ordered breakfast fare.  He held up his flat palm to simulate, pointing as he explained, “We are in the pancake right now.  All the stars we could see on Akaashi’s ship--including the wormhole--are all in the pancake, too.  But Luxate is above it.”

“So cool…” Hinata commented, almost to himself.  “What’s it like there?”

“It… it’s beautiful.”  He paused, feeling a weird fluttering in his stomach as he watched Hinata hang on his every word.  “You can see a lot of the Milky Way, the whole bright disk fills Luxate’s horizon.  It’s one of the best views in the local universe.”

“When all this is over, will you take me there?” Hinata asked quietly.

“Um…”

Hinata smiled, pushing at Tobio’s shoulder a little.  “Oh come on, you’d want to go back, right?”

“Maybe.  You might not like it, though.”

“What?  Hey, why not?  Am I not smart enough or something--”

“The food is horrible.”

Hinata giggled, indignation dissipating in a second flat.  “I promise I won’t complain about it if you take me.”

Tobio smiled a little.  “Deal.”

A pleasant silence descended, the two enjoying the view of space as it would appear on the planet’s surface without the hassle of deadly ultraviolet radiation.  They lounged, watching the hazy pink clouds morph and change on the domed ceiling, an occasional star twinkling from within, the ever-changing glimpse of the universe casting light all over the sky room.

“Kageyama?”

“Mm?”

“What made you become a _traveling_ data scientist?”

Tobio looked away from the celestial spectacle to compose his thoughts.  On the outside it might not seem like it, but he’d gone his entire life without anyone ever asking so personal a question.

But because it was Hinata, he would try to answer.

“I… I don’t know.  I was really good at math in school.  I graduated early and was recruited by the government.  They needed warm bodies for multi-year assignments that nobody else wanted, but I didn’t mind.  I wanted”-- _fuck, don’t lie--_ “to see the data of the whole universe.”   _Operative word: try.  You’re so fucking lame._ He stilled the fidgeting of his hands.

“Don’t you ever miss Earth?”

Tobio sighed, turning to look back up at the simulated churning pink clouds surrounding Z Ori-a.  “Not really.”   _Never._

“Well… at least you’ve gotten to see all those wonderful places, Kageyama.  Before the last few weeks, I hadn’t even left Earth!  It feels like a million years ago, now.”

He nodded, agreeing, but his lie soured the taste in his mouth.  He knew he took those assignments to escape, to get the _fuck_ away from humans, from _him_ , but--he couldn’t tell Hinata just yet.

“What about you?  You’re a waiter at that café, right?”   _Ace deflection, Tobio.  Smooth._

Hinata shrugged, “I was, I guess.  But...”

He craned his neck to better watch Hinata reply.

“I…” Hinata paused, looking at Tobio seriously, as if deciding something.  “I told you I wanted to go pro, but... that wasn’t… everything.”

Tobio frowned.  “What happened?”

“We all… I’m too short.  The recruiters didn’t want me.”

“Did a lot of your teammates go pro?” Tobio shifted, resting the side of his face on the cushion beneath him.

Hinata frowned and looked away then, startling Tobio as he sat up, facing away, his elbows resting on his bent knees.  The curve of the young man’s back bent forward, as if the weight of his thoughts were too strong for his spine.

“Yeah,” Hinata breathed.  “I know I shouldn’t begrudge them their chances, but--”

Tobio knew that feeling immediately.  He _felt_ it immediately.  

“They left you.”  

Hinata twisted around at his words, his wayward orange hair slapping his forehead.  His eyes were wide open, vulnerable, even.

Hinata stared at him, and Tobio stared back, watching the glowing light from the skyscape above them shimmer across the wetness of the young man’s eyes, matching the beautiful pink flush of his cheeks.  He couldn’t help but let his own eyes funnel down to the depths of his soul, a periscope to all he was feeling in that moment, whatever it was, _everything_ it was.

“Their loss,” Tobio murmured.

And just like that, Hinata gasped and bolted from the room, ripping Tobio’s heart out and taking it with him.

\----

_What--who--what the_ fuck _was that?_

Shouyou slapped a hand over his mouth for even thinking the curse, his mother’s castigations ingrained, his heart racing as he ran from the sky room.

Something inside him had pushed out the words tucked beneath the part of him that still bled at the memory of his failed dream.  No one else had understood, least of all his teammates, and because of it they’d abandoned him _again,_ echoes of the memory suffusing his brain-- _Why can’t you just be happy for me?  What’s_ wrong _with you?_

But in that moment, Kageyama understood him.  It was Kageyama who took the words right from his own mouth.   _They left you._  If he’d stayed for even a second longer, the man’s eyes would have sucked him in, their depths a wormhole into some alternate Tobio Kageyama universe and he didn’t know what would’ve happened then.

_If it’s anything like the nebula wormhole..._

He didn’t know where to go, his mind racing too fast for him to understand anything as he wandered aimlessly through the mansion’s hallways, paying just enough attention to not run into anything.

That was until he ran into something.

“Oommphf, Hinata, be care--Hinata?  Are you okay?”  It was Sugawara.

Shouyou felt Sugawara’s hands on his shoulders, steadying him in the opulent hallway, but he couldn’t meet the priest’s eyes.

“I’m… I’m _fine_ ,” Shouyou insisted, breaking Sugawara’s hold and dashing off, running towards his-- _their--_ room.  He made for his bed and slid under the duvet, shielding himself from the bright lighting that told him it would be a few more hours yet until dinner.

Some fuzzy time later, a knock at the door startled him awake, Sugawara poking his head in for only a moment to tell Shouyou it was time to eat.   _Did I seriously fall asleep?_  He crawled out of bed in a daze, pressing some of the folds out of his shirt and checking his face in the mirror before heading down.

Everyone else was already seated and eating at the far end of the dining table that Team Suga had commandeered for their meals.  Shouyou went over to sit next to Sugawara, his eyes drawn up to Kageyama, the man catty-corner from him and focusing intently on his plate of food.  Shouyou inspected the family-style fare in front of him but realized that he wasn’t really hungry.

_Impossible._

Shouyou had trouble listening to other conversations at the table, the voices of his friends muffled by the heavy air, his concentration diverted by subconscious insistence to make Kageyama the focus of his vision even though it twisted up his insides.  

His feelings were a confusing mess that he didn’t think he could sort out alone; a veritable beehive had set up shop in his body.  He was attracted to Kageyama, drawn to him, and since day one, a part of him trusted Kageyama.  He’d confided his feelings about his volleyball teammates and Kageyama understood.

The magnetic draw Kageyama had on him, the fear of pushing him--them _all_ away, the worry that he already did, and the adrenaline of spilling his secrets were unto themselves powerful forces, vying for space in his brain, hollowing out his stomach, making his hands shake.

While evaluating the cold sweat down his back, a sudden movement caught his attention and he watched as Kageyama stood up stiffly without word and hastened from the dining room.

_Oh, god, please don’t leave me, too--_

The table descended in an awkward silence, Shouyou glued to his seat in a panic--

“Hinata, what’s going on?  Did you and Kageyama get in a fight?” a gentle voice spoke near him.  It was Sugawara again.

Shouyou shook his head, pretending to find the scant food on his plate _very_ interesting.

“Did you tell him you like him?”

Shouyou whipped his head up to stare wide-eyed at Kozume across the table.

“N-n… what?”

“Kenma, what are you talking about?  Hinata and _Kageyama_?” Sawamura questioned.

The conversation picked up without Shouyou, but he couldn’t speak anyway.

“They’ve been dancing around each other all week,” Kozume explained.

“What are you talking about, Kenma?  Hinata is just a kid--”

“We’re the same age, Tetsu.”

“No shit?”

“Yes shit.”  

Bokuto snorted loudly, the two pairing off to argue over whether or not _yes shit_ was actually funny.

Shouyou sat up straight, looking at all the members of Team Suga at the table in turn.  For the second time since his trust was so brutally destroyed in high school, he felt it flicker to life once again.  He wanted so badly to be a part of a team again but knew that wouldn’t happen unless he… let it.  Unless he made it happen.

“What’s it... like?” Shouyou asked the group, taking the plunge in more ways than one.   _Do I trust them?  Is this for real?  Do I_ like _like Kageyama?_

Sugawara smiled, taking Sawamura’s hand next to him and kissing him soundly on the lips.  “Comfortable.  Secure.  Warm.”

_All of the above?  Check,_ Shouyou mused.

“If nothing makes sense unless you’re with him--yeah, that’s what it’s like,” Kuroo added, his eyes caressing Kozume next to him.  The latter blushed and looked down, hiding most of his face behind his pin-straight hair.

_That may be true, but nothing really makes sense_ with _him, either--_

“Exacting,” Akaashi provided quietly as Bokuto pouted next to him, “but worth every second.”

“Awe, Akasheeeee,” Bokuto whined, forcing Akaashi into an awkward sideways hug with his beefy arms.  Akaashi’s stoic face conveyed he was only just enduring the affection, but his fierce blush said otherwise.  Shouyou watched them with a smile when some of Kozume’s earlier words grabbed his attention.

“W-wait, Kozume, you said we’ve been dancing around each other?  What does that mean?”  A spring of hope gurgled, buffering away all other thoughts.

Kozume sighed, “How are we supposed to save the world when all of you are _this dense_?”

Bokuto jumped in, “Guns.  Lots of guns.”

“Kou, dude, that movie is from like, the 20th century,” criticized Kuroo.

“So?  Your favorite movie is a romantic comedy, you sap--”

“Alright, alright, settle down, guys,” Sawamura interjected, but Shouyou was already getting up, eagerly racing out to find Kageyama.

_I like him.  I like him, and I’m going to tell him._

_Because I think he likes me, too._

\----

He’d run up the stairs full of confidence, _so ready_ to confess himself to Kageyama but faltered once he got to the closed bedroom door.

_What if he doesn’t actually like me?  But why would he say “_ their loss” _like that, with those_ eyes _, why would he--_

_God, shut up, Shou!_

In a rush of frustration, Shouyou burst the door open and watched Kageyama jump from the bed, clutching a pillow.

“Kageyama!”

The man’s eyebrows pinched together but he remained silent, watching Shouyou in the doorway.

Shouyou entered the room, closing the door behind him and walking closer to the man, who stepped back at his advance.   _Oh god…_

“Kageyama…” he said as he halted his motion, his half-cocked and very last minute plan about how this would go disintegrating at the pinched, pained look on Kageyama’s face.  They stood, staring at each other in the silence, Shouyou’s mind providing plenty of noise with which to fill the room.  In that moment, he thought again of his new teammates.

_What would Sawamura and Sugawara do?_

Figuring he’d never been good with words anyway, Shouyou steeled himself and stepped forward into Kageyama’s personal space, backing him up to the painted mural on the wall.  Kageyama froze, but Shouyou persisted, his instincts guiding him as he placed his palms on Kageyama’s shoulders.  

“Wh-what are you--”

He got on his tiptoes, breathed in, squeezed shut his eyes, and planted his lips on Kageyama’s.  He felt puffs of air on his face, the movement of the man’s chest almost violent with the force of his inhalations.  It took a few seconds, but the man slowed, softened beneath him, ghosting his hands on Shouyou’s forearms, inciting a shiver that ran through Shouyou’s entire body.

After a time--a few seconds or a whole year, he couldn’t tell--Shouyou let go, falling back on his heels and delighting in the vibrant blush gracing Kageyama’s face and neck.

He waited, easily reading between the lines of Kageyama’s flush, his refusal to return Shouyou’s gaze.

_Oh god, he likes me too…_

He crept from the room to give the man stunned man some space.   _Some time._

\----

The next afternoon, Tobio was zoning out to some movie up on the screen, thinking too hard about everything that had happened between them, things that had happened _to_ him.  After, _jesus_ , after Hinata had kissed him, the young man had left him alone.  Tobio had gone to sleep early, zapped of all this energy, and woke in the morning only to realize Shouyou had come and gone while he’d slept the night away.  After a deliberately late breakfast to remain alone with his thoughts, he absconded to the movie room where the crew would not likely make an appearance until nighttime descended.

_He likes me?  That could fucking mean anything, fucking know-nothing hacker.  He probably didn’t even mean to kiss me--_

A shock of light pierced the dark room and Hinata walked over without introduction to sit on the floor in front of Tobio.

_What is it they say about well-laid plans?_

“Hi-Hinata--”

“Did you like my kiss?” Hinata asked quickly, impatiently.

Tobio jumped a little, the cushions in the room blunting Hinata’s piercing question.  He paused the movie, looking for some fucking words.   _How am I supposed to answer that without sounding like a fucking creep--_ ”Yes,” he croaked, unable to lie.  Hinata would probably be able to tell anyway, his face impossible to control around the young man anymore.

Hinata leaned forward from his perch on the floor and smiled.

Tobio wagered that no force in the universe could tear his eyes from Hinata and that smile, somehow brighter than all his other smiles, Tobio’s heartbeat capable of powering all of Z Ori-a.

Hinata crawled over to him in the dark to lay next to him on the cushion, pressing his body along Tobio’s right side and placing a tentative hand on his chest.

He couldn’t move.   _This is different_.  He _is different.  He is so beautiful--words.  Say words_.  “You… you want…?”

“I--I like you, Kageyama…” Hinata confessed as his hand clutched the fabric of Tobio’s shirt.

_Oh god, am I doing this?  Am I--_

Tobio freed his right arm-- _from underneath Hinata oh god_ \--and snaked it around his shoulders, his movements awkward and unfamiliar.  His raised his left hand, his shaking hand, to trace Hinata’s blushing cheek with his fingertips.  He felt himself get stupid, the warm softness under his fingers as addictive and potent as any drug.  Hinata’s eyes were at half-mast, his lips parted.

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck--_

“Beautiful, Shouyou Hinata,” his words rushed forth, an unstoppable tide.  Tobio tilted his head, his eyelids fluttering closed as he pressed his lips tentatively to Hinata’s, warm and soft and _perfect._

Hinata shivered in his arms and released a sweet moan that Tobio felt in his lips, his chest, deep down in his belly.  Hinata wound both arms around Tobio’s neck, pressing their lips together, wiggling closer to Tobio in the dark.  He was close, almost too close, tightening and tugging and--

_This is… I need to… I need to…_

His whole body stiffened, his mind spinning the tune of a panicked, thrumming beat.  Tobio pulled his head back from the kiss to look at Hinata seriously, relieved to see _beautiful_ brown eyes instead of menacing green.  “I need... c-can we--”

Hinata smiled.  “Can I stay for the movie?”

“Um…”

Hinata picked up the remote and unpaused the feature, wiggling down to turn and rest his head on Tobio’s chest.  

“Oh, I love this one, Kageyama!”

_How… does he know?_ Tobio kissed his orange hair on impulse, and despite his rapid, happy heartbeat, he felt more at ease than he ever had in his life.

_He’s an angel._

\----

After the movie ended, Tobio led Hinata- _-by the hand for fuck’s sake_ \--to the Tanaka logistics center, where he and Kozume had been tracking the evil the past week.  It hadn’t done much of anything in that time, just continued its ironically slow path towards Earth at near light speed _._

Once inside, Hinata sat comfortably on the counter next to the terminal, swinging his legs as he watched Tobio fire up their detectors.  The young man had snuggled up to Tobio as they finished the movie, Tobio now feeling remnants of his warmth along his side, smiling as he logged in to see--

_What the fuck?_

“Hinata, I need Kozume.  Can you go get him?”

Hinata’s legs stopped, his eyes widening as he asked, “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know, I just need him, please.”

Hinata nodded and bolted to fetch the astrophysicist, because the evil…

… was _gone._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless [MT_Yami](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MT_Yami) for saving this fic for the quadrillionth time.


	7. Big Bada Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group departs Z Ori-a, and Hinata and Kageyama have a cook-off.

“What is it?” Kozume inquired as he entered the tech room, Hinata returning to his perch on the counter.

“I don’t know if it’s interference or if the detectors are down--”

“I tested them just yesterday, they should be fine,” Kozume interrupted.

“--well, the evil… it’s um.  It’s gone.”  Tobio finished quietly.

Kozume’s eyes widened as he took Tobio’s seat at the terminal.  Tobio watched the data scroll through again, the spectral heartbeat of the evil they monitored now nothing more than an ominous flatline.

“I’ll ask Ryuu to confirm with his engineers that everything is operational from a hardware standpoint.  We are monitoring all bands but microwaves and the radio, correct?”

Tobio nodded.  “We don’t have the resolution to pick it out from the noise in those, so there’s no point.”  He dreaded what he was about to say.  “But the government does.”

Kozume sighed.  “We’ll have to sneak onto their servers to look for any updates.”  The man tapped into his com to ask Tanaka about the detectors, but the prince reported back after only a few minutes with a green light from his engineers.

“You remember what I said about hacking in, don’t you, Kageyama?”

“Of course,” he murmured, hoping Hinata didn’t.  

Kozume sighed, mumbling as he began his hack, “Maybe after a week radio silence they’ll think we’ve given up.”

Tobio looked over at Hinata, the only sounds in the room Kozume’s words to himself and the tap of his fingers on the panel.  Hinata looked concerned, his expression mirroring the tumult raging through Tobio that he tried so desperately to hide.  Hacking in on a stationary system like Z Ori-a was risky; they were sitting ducks here, more easily traceable, but the threat of their discovery didn’t trigger his cold sweat.

The evil could have fallen into a wormhole, hastening its arrival to Earth, or the government could have wilfully obscured the evil from them and everyone else.   _Why the fuck would they do that?_

He started feeling itchy and warm with the thought that the evil could be sentient and able to disappear simply because it _felt like it_.  Was it evolving in real time, changing to better elude the stupid humans it aimed to kill?  What did all this mean for the pending ritual and his hope of Hinata emerging from this fucking shitstorm alive?

_I won’t let him give his life for the likes of Earth_.

As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Hinata hopped off the counter and stood next to him.  Stiff with bottled-up worry, Tobio let Hinata grab his hand, their grip clammy from either or both of them, he wasn’t sure.  They waited, watching Kozume work in silence, Hinata unnaturally quiet next to him.

It was a while before Kozume turned from the terminal, glancing down at their paired hands before speaking.

“The government suspects a wormhole but they haven’t found its drop point since it evaporated so quickly, and now the General is reinforcing his defensive camps around the Earth.  No word about their plans for us which worries me even more.  I think we need to go immediately, they will probably trace us soon,” Kozume intoned.

The three left the tech room to confer with the rest of Team Suga, the lot of them somberly agreeing to embark on retrieving the stones just as soon as Akaashi and Bokuto readied the ship.  The mood in the mansion changed on a dime as everyone else hastened to their rooms to pack up in silence, the seriousness of their mission momentarily forgotten during their brush with luxury.

“It’s going to happen so fast now, isn’t it?” Hinata confided in the quiet of their room, his hands wringing.  “Soon we’ll have everything we need for the… the ritual… and--”

Some crazy impulse moved his feet forward towards Hinata, wanting nothing more than to just touch him--“Let’s go to Luxate now and forget about all of this,” Tobio whispered as he threaded his fingers through the tresses of Hinata’s orange hair.

Hinata closed his eyes and leaned his head into Tobio’s hand.  “We can’t, Kageyama--”

“I can still wish, can’t I?”

Hinata’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he stepped forward to hug Tobio.  Tobio wrapped his arms around the young man and pressed his face into his hair, his nearness a balm on his soul despite their circumstances.

“I told myself I wasn’t scared… but I am, Kageyama.  I really am,” Hinata said in a small voice.

_Me too, Hinata… me too…_

Tobio squeezed him a little tighter, Hinata adjusting his head to better slot the shape of his face to Tobio’s chest.  They stood like that for a while, Tobio not commenting on the tears wetting his shirt.  

Though Tobio was content to stay like that a little longer, Hinata tensed up in his arms and pulled away, brown eyes puffy and rimmed red.  “Let me stay with you on the ship?” Hinata asked.

_Please._ “Yeah, Hinata.”

“Shouyou,” Hinata corrected, shivering.

Tobio flushed.   _Whatever you want.  Anything you want._  “Shouyou,” he repeated, his voice cracking.

Hinata-- _Shouyou_ \--delivered a few light kisses to Tobio’s chest where his height could reach, and Tobio found himself tightening his hand in his bright orange hair.   _Is he--_ Tobio gasped as Shouyou’s cold hands delved underneath his shirt, snaking up to splay on his lower back, pressing Tobio close until their bodies were completely flush.

Tobio flinched but closed his eyes, trying to loosen up by grounding himself in the feel of Shouyou’s slight shoulders, the softness of his hair against his hands and face.  The urge to flee the exploratory contact subsided a little with the knowledge that it was _Shouyou_ holding him, touching him, kissing him.  

He allowed Shouyou’s hands to work their way further up his spine, a trail of body-wracking shivers springing up in their wake.

The fears that had first been planted in high school by his evil upperclassman had grown substantial roots over the years; even seeing and feeling that it was Shouyou in his arms, his fear remained strong, a dormant venus fly trap ready to attack the unsuspecting, innocent fly.  As Shouyou continued peppering his chest with chaste kisses he froze, the memory of his clothes roughly shifting aside and his useless screams for help woke the predator once more.  

But his anxiety peaked as Tobio felt Shouyou’s erection through his pants; he knew that just because he was hard, that didn’t mean--he wasn’t… _he wasn’t asking for it_.  Worry for Shouyou overshadowed all as his head shook involuntarily: he refused to hurt him, refused to hurt his angel just as he was--

The bustle of his thoughts too overwhelming to ignore, Tobio shoved him away as his ribs became a vise, clenching his hands on Shouyou’s shoulders as the force of his breathing shook his body.  He wanted Shouyou _so badly_ , but he wouldn’t--

Shouyou’s eyebrows tilted in concern.  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly, placing his hands gently on Tobio’s forearms.

He squeezed his eyes shut with the effort it took to breathe.

_Just say it, you fucking coward._

Though it made him feel naked despite his clothes, he held Shouyou’s gaze.  “I--”

He cleared his throat.  

“I want you, Shouyou… but, um… I… do… do you--”

The young man removed his hands from Tobio’s arms and smiled.

“I want you too, Kageyama.   _So_ much,” he finished quietly, his face a deep crimson from which Tobio couldn’t look away.   _Beautiful._

“You… you do?” he managed.

Shouyou pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion, revealing his torso that Tobio had only seen from afar at the pool and in teasing little glimpses as they watched movies together.  The sight broke the constriction of his torso, his breaths returning enough for him to speak without stuttering--

“ _Shouyou,_ ” he whispered as he shook for an altogether different reason.

Shouyou stepped forward, closer.  

“B-but we have to go soon, Shou--” Tobio argued, even as he gaped at the young man’s body.

“Just a few minutes, _Kageyama_ ,” his angel teased with a small, almost bashful smile, reaching to touch Tobio’s chest, their bodies shivering.

Tobio’s eyes roamed reverently over him, his eyes catching on the slight dip of his collarbones and the smattering of freckles there, the gentle, quaking swell of his chest, his small, tapered waist, and his-- _fuck--_ the bulge of his cock at the front of his sweats that must have mirrored his own.  Any resistance that had remained shattered, his body driven by an unmistakable urgency he no longer loathed, he no longer tried to force back if it meant he could have _him._

_And he wants, god--he wants me back--_

“Sh-Shouyou,” he breathed his name like a prayer as he pulled Shouyou roughly against him, his warmth even more intense without his shirt under Tobio’s unsteady hands.  He nudged Shouyou’s chin up and leaned in close to breathe him in, his lips moving below Shouyou’s jawline a little teasingly as his tongue peeked out to taste the skin there.

Shouyou released a moan that destroyed Tobio’s sanity, one he answered involuntarily, the two soon filling the room with a concerto of wanton need and heavy breathing.  Shouyou became boneless in his arms but Tobio just held him tighter, not letting go.  He’d _never_ let go.  He couldn’t even if he fucking _died._

He tucked the young man close to his hips as his lips mapped Shouyou’s neck, his collarbone, his shoulders, his pale skin a blank canvas for Tobio’s increasingly urgent kisses.  Soon the reddened skin there wasn’t enough, he needed more, making his way back to kiss his mouth.

In a moment of sanity he pulled back to check on Shouyou, to see that he wasn’t going too far.

_Too far for him… or me?_

Shouyou looked up to meet Tobio’s gaze with a half-lidded one of his own, and Tobio wished he could stop time and stay right there, forever, with Shouyou looking at him like that.  He splayed his hands on Shouyou’s face and neck and watched his eyelids flutter, his chest pant, his hands shake, his responsiveness making Tobio weak-kneed.

“Kage--Kageyama…” Shouyou whined, seeking Tobio’s kiss, the lilt in his voice a plea for him, for him alone.

“Tobio,” he corrected brokenly, wanting to hear his name from Shouyou’s--

“ _Tobio…_ ”

_Godfuckfuckfuckfuck--_

Tobio leaned in-- _anything you want, Shouyou--_ and pressed his lips firmly against Shouyou’s, their sharp inhalations punctuating their kiss.  He clenched his hand in Shouyou’s hair as he traced his lips with his tongue, a bid for entry that Shouyou granted, peeking his tongue out shyly to meet Tobio’s.

Tobio tilted his head to seal their lips together, at once deepening the kiss and careening him off the edge of sanity.  They clutched each other as the fervor of their first make-out session escalated, their movements-- _and Shouyou’s whimpers, fucking hell--_ becoming more eager and sure as they practiced.  

He was so consumed with their kiss that he almost didn’t notice how Shouyou had straddled his leg and was now pressing his erection-- _fuck, his cock--_ into him, grinding into Tobio’s thigh with the beat of his hips.  Tobio gasped into their kiss at Shouyou’s neediness, _basking_ in it.

_I did this to him.  Fuck, he’s--_

Shouyou broke away suddenly and stepped back to put some space between them, space Tobio loathed, Shouyou’s eyes skitting around as he released Tobio’s shirt from his clutches.

“I’m--I’m sorry!  I didn’t realize I was--”

“ _Tch.”_

Shouyou looked up at Tobio in shock, but soon smiled after reading something on Tobio’s face.

_That smile..._

He couldn’t hide much from his angel anymore.

Unable to bear the distance, Tobio crowded into Shouyou’s space, towering over him, pressing him close and slotting his leg between Shouyou’s once more.  “Come back here,” he commanded gruffly.

Shouyou’s arms slid up to wrap around his neck, smiling into their kiss.  Tobio felt Shouyou’s moaning all over his body like the tremors of an earthquake reaching far and wide, through his body to the tips of his fingers, his toes, his cock, his arousal becoming an agitated faultline.  Tobio urged him on roughly by pressing Shouyou’s hips into his leg harder with a hand on his lower back, taking pride in the pleasure that pinched his face and heightened his moans.

“ _Shouyou,_ ” he growled in his ear, an animalistic urge needing to see, to hear, to feel Shouyou come apart for him.

Shouyou’s movements became erratic just as his high pitched sob filled the room, Tobio’s breaths squeezing out of him, his attention rapt on his angel.

“ _T-Tobio!”_

“Oh, Shou, Shouyou--” Tobio babbled, talking Shouyou through his orgasm with words he barely registered coming out of his mouth, repeating his name over and over again as if branding himself with it.

Eventually Shouyou slumped against Tobio, his inhales becoming deep and slow despite the slight tremors that still wracked his body.  He rubbed the young man’s back, reveling in the feel of his skin now tinged with a layer of sweat that only seemed to make him smell even better.

Shouyou looked up at him with lazy eyes, his smile so soft and natural that Tobio succumbed to the urge to kiss him again, but not for long.

Tobio figured they must have already left Z Ori-a and had been transported to some insane alternate universe because one of Shouyou’s hands was on him, palming his erection through his track pants-- _this can’t be fucking happening--_ and wringing a breathy yell from his lungs.  Tobio’s hands balled into fists on Shouyou’s back at the sudden, near painful concentration of sensation on his cock.

“Tobio,” Shouyou spoke almost as a question, his eyes wide and his voice husky as it caught in his throat.

The unexpected pressure sent shivers through Tobio, his lower abdomen tightening, contracting almost painfully as the earthquake within him rattled violently-- _jesus fucking christ_ \--he couldn’t _see._ He gasped as the pressure crescendoed and he came quickly under Shouyou’s palm, his entire body convulsing as he leaned helplessly on him.

When the earthquake subsided, Tobio bent forward and rested his forehead on Shouyou’s shoulder, his body relaxing as his arousal and his worry for both himself and Shouyou dissipated.  Time and space ceased to exist, the warmth of Shouyou pressed against him the only thing registering to his consciousness.

“Um, Tobio, we should, uh… get cleaned up--”

“Mmmn.”   _That’s what I think about that stupid idea--_

Shouyou giggled, trying to press Tobio upright but failing under his deadweight, Tobio not helping whatsoever.

Tobio eventually obliged and took in the sight of Shouyou, his eyes panning over his tousled hair, his kiss-swollen mouth, and the red marks scattered across his neck and shoulders.  The young man glowed: the smile on his face and the red of his cheeks were just for him.

A piercing hope, or need--whatever it was--welled up at the sight, and words bubbled up from deep within the very seat of his desires, “Please… only me, Shouyou.”

Shouyou’s eyes widened but after a moment he nodded, averting his eyes shortly after.

“Um… let’s… let’s change, it’s kinda--,” Shouyou suggested quietly to the floor.

“Right.”

Tobio let go of Shouyou and they took turns in the bathroom, freshening up from their unexpectedly messy-- _fucking amazing--_ encounter.  He watched Shouyou put his sweater back on, the young man’s only Earthly, or otherwise, possession.

_That’s not true.  He’s got me.  And I… I have… him._

Tobio blushed at the force of that thought, stuffing what little made it out of his duffel back inside, zipping it closed with finality.

\----

Team Suga converged in the foyer, the two of them somehow right on time despite their-- _oh man oh man--_ activities.  Shouyou blushed all the way back to the hangar with the memory of what they’d done, shivering as Tobio’s words played back on repeat in his brain.

_Only me, Shouyou._

“We can’t thank you enough for letting us hide out here, Ryuu,” Sugawara praised.  Shouyou jolted as he realized they’d already walked all the way to the hangar.

“Anything for you guys,” Saeko replied, shaking Sugawara’s hand.

Shouyou smiled numbly as Ryu bypassed Sugawara’s outstretched hand to hug him instead, and one by one they said their goodbyes to the Tanakas.  Ryuu and Saeko approached Shouyou and Tobio last, everyone else en route to the ship’s teleport bay.

“Well, kid, it’s up to you now.  Do us proud!” Ryuu exclaimed, reaching to ruffle Shouyou’s hair.

Tobio’s hand snapped out, encircling Ryuu’s wrist before the prince could make contact.  They stared each other down, Tobio’s expression fierce, his sharp eyes steady on Ryuu’s.

“I… uh… I will, Mr. Tanaka,” Shouyou finished with a shaky voice amidst the stand-off, his eyes fixated on Tobio’s hand.

_Why would he--_

Tobio released Ryuu wordlessly and turned to leave, snaking his arm around Shouyou’s shoulders to lead him to the ship.

“Oh ho ho ho, would you look at that,” Kuroo teased.

“Suga, we don’t need the stones!  The evil will just cower with one look at Scaryama’s face,” Bokuto added, pointing at Tobio.  “Trip’s over!”  Kuroo nodded in agreement, his arms crossed in confidence.

“Get on the ship, you two,” Sugawara chastised, meeting Shouyou and Tobio a few paces from the teleport.  “Are you guys okay?  Kageyama?”

Shouyou looked up at Tobio, the man’s expression steady as he nodded.  They stood so close that Shouyou could feel the tension in his body, could see the blush riding high on his sharp cheekbones.  Shouyou tucked himself further into Tobio’s side, his legs unexpectedly shaky after their encounter with Ryuu.  He felt Tobio’s arm immediately tighten around him in response, elevating his already rapid heartbeat.

_No one’s ever..._

They teleported one after the other, Tobio disappearing to deposit his duffel downstairs while Shouyou strapped himself into his speed seat.

“Hey, let me know if you need anything, okay?”  Sugawara stood over him with a knowing smile on his face, his gravity-defying sprig of hair a beacon that always seemed to sense when Shouyou needed some advice.

Shouyou smiled a little.   _My team._

Shouyou nodded, attempting to bolster his voice with some confidence but it came out sounding timid anyway, “Could I… ask you some questions?  Later?”

Sugawara’s smile brightened as he grasped Shouyou’s hand for a brief moment.  “Anything, Hinata.”  Sugawara got up just as Tobio emerged from the elevator, walking over to sit next to Shouyou.  

After everyone got situated, Sawamura addressed the cabin.  “As discussed, we are going to retrieve the stones.  Suga hid them with a faction of his church in Uranus--”

Kuroo and Bokuto snorted in tandem, earning a smack each from Sugawara.  Akaashi still managed to shake his head in exasperation as he furiously prepared the ship for take-off.

Sawamura sighed.  “As I was saying, the faction is in the Uranus _system_ , you dingbats, but it’s much too dangerous for us to get that close to Earth right now.  Suga’s contact will meet us in the outskirts of the Spur, and we’ll exchange the stones and head to Proxima Centauri afterwards.”

Shouyou hoped that _outskirts_ meant close to Luxate.  “Why are we going to Proxima Centauri afterwards?  Isn’t that too close to Earth as well?”

Sawamura smiled.  “That’s the location of one of the Mondoshawans’ backup temples.  The temple is close enough to be effective against the evil, but because it’s still a handful of light years away from Earth, the government couldn’t pick us out there if they tried.”

Sugawara jumped in, “The location of the Proxima temple is one of my church’s best kept secrets.  Once we land and settle in, it shouldn’t be too difficult to hide for a time.”

“So we’ll track the evil from the ship until it reappears, then land as soon as we know its timeline?” Tobio asked, finally talking, his scowl softened by the heat in his cheeks.

“Or sooner, if we get the stones,” Sugawara finished. Sawamura nodded and walked off towards the bow, effectively ending the conversation just as Akaashi fired up the ship.

Shouyou turned, intending to whisper to Tobio, his mind reverting quickly back to the tension between him and Ryuu.  “Why… why did you do that, Tobio?  Back there, with the Tanakas?”

Tobio looked miserably stiff but managed a subtle head shake, as if beseeching Shouyou to wait until later.

He smiled; he could just hear the words in Tobio’s mind, _when we’re alone, dumbass!_

Shouyou struggled to figure out why his reaction was so visceral, but he knew that having Tobio and his new team put into stark focus exactly how lonely he’d been the last seven years.  No one cared to call him their own, as a friend, as a lover.  Tobio’s plea, his protectiveness was doing weird things to him, the bees in his belly buzzing in unison, their shared pitch more piercing than before.

_Only me, Shouyou._

Shouyou looked down, the heat inside him certainly blooming on his face for all to see but meant only for one.  For _him_.  “Only you, Tobio,” his quiet words tumbled from his mouth.

Tobio made a weird noise next to him, just loud enough over the din of the ship for only him to hear.  While the man still refused to look his way, Tobio’s hand slid over, clutching his, squeezing tight as the ship ascended from their subterranean fortress and shot away from Z Ori-a.

\----

While everyone else napped in their speed seats, Tobio, Kozume, and Akaashi had clustered together at the ship’s command to navigate.  They’d already traversed through a wormhole; they would arrive at Sugawara’s specified drop point in a little under 20 more hours of normal flight.

Tobio looked behind him to peek at Shouyou sleeping soundly in his seat, all curled up and hunkered warmly in his sweater.  Tobio’s face relaxed as he counted the seconds until he could pick him up and take him to bed to sleep off the drama of the last few hours.

“He confessed,” Kozume observed quietly next to him.

Tobio had no response to that.

“He will need you, Kageyama, before all this is over.”

“He’ll have me,” he replied, the words automatic and confident.

His eyes eventually tore away from Shouyou to return Kozume’s piercing gaze.

_I need him so much more than he needs me._

“Alright guys, I got this for the next few hours.  I’ll wake up Sawamura to switch shifts.  Go get some sleep,” Akaashi instructed, dismissing them.

Tobio nodded, wasting no time walking back to unclip Shouyou from his seat.  The young man slumped over but Tobio easily caught him, hoisting him up with one arm under his back, another behind his knees.  Shouyou’s head fell to Tobio’s shoulder, fast asleep.

Not even the breezy elevator could wake his charge, and just a few seconds later Tobio entered his room in the ship’s underbelly and placed Shouyou on the bed.  He took off the young man’s shoes and lifted his legs, feeding them under the insulation of the covers, his soft snores permeating the quiet compartment.

As he watched Shouyou relax into the bed, he thought about Shouyou’s actions last night, how he’d so easily removed his shirt to share himself with Tobio.  Ever since that day in high school, he’d never felt comfortable taking his clothes off like that, especially not in front of people.   A surge of panic had crept up on him as Shouyou had worked his hands up the back of his shirt, but Shouyou’s disarming smile, his genuine desire, and-- _his trust--_ had somehow halted the attack in its tracks.

Alone with him again in the ship compartment, he wanted to try: he wanted to give Shouyou what he’d been given without hesitation.  He wanted to topple another barrier for Shouyou and Shouyou alone, even if the young man was too sleepy now to remember.  

But most of all, he wanted to try for himself.  He couldn’t let his nightmares rule him and his every interaction with the one person he was coming to… to…

_Baby steps._

Resolved, he shut off the light in the compartment and before he could talk himself out of it, his trembling hands shucked his shirt, dropping it to the floor.  He stood next to the bed and shivered in the pitch dark.

The covers rustled as Shouyou shifted in the bed, mumbling something Tobio couldn’t discern.  He climbed in next to Shouyou and pulled the covers more securely over the both of them, his nerves making his entire arm shake as he draped it over his sleeping angel, tugging the young man’s back close to his body.

“Tobio?”  Shouyou whispered, seeking assurance.

“Y-yeah,” Tobio spoke into the young man’s hair.

The young man held Tobio’s arm around him tighter and was soon lightly snoring again, a soothing harmony that lulled Tobio into a deep, dreamless sleep.

\----

Shouyou woke alone, cold, and he shifted around in the bed to get his bearings in the darkness.

_Oh--the ship.  I’m on the ship._

He pressed himself up, feeling that the space next to him was still warm from-- _Tobio._  

_Where’d he go?_

He looked down in the pitch black, not seeing but feeling that Tobio’s sweater was uncomfortably off-kilter on his torso, and he blushed as images of what they did in their last few minutes on Z Ori-a flashed through his brain.

Tobio had felt so good against him, their bodies pressing together urgently, sensations coursing through him the likes of which he’d never felt before.

He closed his eyes, remembering how soft Tobio had felt against his lips, and-- _oh man--_ how hard he felt against his palm, the man shaking, undone with so simple a touch, a touch he wouldn’t have permitted just a few short days ago.

And then Tobio had kept the Tanaka prince from touching him, his protective streak that began with his sweater in the prison evolving rapidly-- _maybe a little too rapidly?  For him?  For me?_

_Is... is he okay?_

A door in the room opened, interrupting his thoughts and resolving the mystery of Tobio’s absence.  The en suite bathroom’s light crowded around the man, flooding the room, and Shouyou struggled to see his face as cast in shadow as it was, his--

_Oh._

He stared unabashedly, thoughts forgotten-- _RIP attention span_ \--as his eyes traced along the outline of Tobio’s chest, the lean muscle of his arms, his long abdomen that went on and on and _on_.  He could just make out a sparse trail of dark hair peeking out from his low-riding sweatpants that reached in vain for his bellybutton, and Shouyou blushed at the strength of his yearning to kiss him there.

Shouyou’s fists clenched in the sheets, wishing that Tobio would come back to bed.  He would take off his shirt, too, to merge their warmth together-- _only for you, for us._ He’d known he was physically attracted to Tobio, but seeing him like this was something else.

Tobio looked away, rubbing the back of his neck wordlessly before quickly extinguishing the bathroom light and Shouyou’s ability to stare.

_He’s… embarrassed?_

“I’ll--I’ll go get us breakfast,” the man mumbled quickly, Shouyou hearing clothes rustle around in the darkened room.

_Yep, he’s embarrassed._

“Wait!  I’ll go, too!”  Shouyou threw the covers off and jumped from the bed, knocking into Tobio in his urgency to follow, not wanting Tobio to run away from him, even if he couldn’t have more just yet.

“Watch it, dumbass,” Tobio replied, the usually scathing retort soft, almost affectionate as his hands steadied Shouyou.  Shouyou found his balance but Tobio still didn’t remove his hands, his thumbs soon rubbing back and forth on Shouyou’s shoulders.

“Uhm, Tobio?”

Tobio squeezed his shoulders.

“Do you know how long we have, until…”

“Um… less than a day on the ship before we meet with Sugawara’s people.  After that, who knows.”

Shouyou nodded, blushing in the dark as he realized Tobio couldn’t see him.  Unsure what to do, Shouyou remained close but silent, not wanting to make Tobio even more uncomfortable than he obviously was.

“Did you… sleep like that?”

Tobio’s hands disappeared, his words defensive, “What of it?”

Shouyou smiled at the towering, scowling man with his giant heart, suddenly grateful for the darkness.   _That won’t work on me anymore!  ...Dumbass!_ He braced himself then stepped forward, hugging Tobio before the man could make an escape.

“Let’s go eat breakfast, Tobio.”

After Tobio got over his indignant sputtering, they ventured through the elevator to the main cabin of the ship, finding it vacant of everyone except Sawamura at the control deck.  They waved to the tired-looking man, glancing over at the clean, unused kitchen.  Their stomachs growled in unison, having rushed from Z Ori-a with barely any dinner.

“Um, Tobio, do you know how to cook?”

Tobio sighed.  “I thought you worked at a café.”

Shouyou rubbed the back of his head, in a gesture similar to Tobio’s from just a few minutes ago.  “Heh… you see, I only served the food--”

“Are you telling me that after seven years working in foodservice you can’t make a simple breakfast?”

_Does cereal count?_

“W-well, I bet I can make a better breakfast than you!”

Tobio scoffed as they both approached the ship’s kitchenette, digging through the pantry and fridge for supplies to accommodate their cook-off.  

An hour, two dozen eggs, one burned pan, a few loaded glances, and a slew of chopped vegetables later, the two presented their concoctions to their grumpy customers that were woken by the clanging of cookware.

“Breakfast is served!” Shouyou proclaimed, setting down food that only vaguely resembled that which he’d served at the café.

_They don’t have to know that--_

Sugawara bravely stepped up and tested the scrambled eggs and a few wilted vegetables, Shouyou holding his breath for his verdict.

“Mm.. well, uh… the eggs are okay, but the vegetables...” Sugawara looked up apologetically, his face pinched.  “They’re a little too salty, you guys.”

“Yes!” Shouyou shouted triumphantly, turning to Tobio to point a finger in his face.  “I told you to cool it with the salt, Tobio!”

Tobio grabbed his sweater with a fist and pulled him closer, cheeks flushing.  “What, like you’re some kind of expert?  You burned the first pan you used--”

Sugawara interjected, “Well, the eggs weren’t _that--_ ”

“Vegetables are way easier to cook than eggs and yet you still managed to screw those up!  Sugawara is nice and even _he_ didn’t like them!”  Shouyou yelled back at Tobio while trying to remove the death grip Tobio had on his sweater.

“You dumbass…” Tobio began, pulling him even closer, their faces a hair’s breadth away.  They stared at each other, Shouyou’s-- _anger?_ \--driving his heartbeat wild.

_He’s so close..._

And then Tobio was kissing him stupid, their mouths roughly clashing together for only a moment.  As quickly as Tobio swooped in he escaped, his long legs eating up the distance to the command center before Shouyou could do much more than blink.

Their audience was silent, even the lackeys, and Shouyou sat at the table in a daze and plated up some food.

A few coughs from around the table sounded but conversation eventually picked up as usual, Shouyou ignoring them all until his brain booted back up.  He knew Team Suga was aware of his crush on Tobio, but he hadn’t updated them about his confession since asking their advice only… _two nights ago?_

He never imagined Tobio, his reserved angry giant, would ever dare kiss him in public.

He wouldn’t have thought Tobio would protect him from an innocent hair ruffling, either.

_What a weirdo_ , he thought as he looked down at his lap with a smile.

“I told him,” he spoke randomly to the diners.

Kuroo looked back at Tobio and leaned towards Shouyou.  “Is he a good kisser?” he whispered conspiratorially.  

“Hope he’s a better kiss than a cook,” Sawamura spoke up, miserably pushing wilted once-green vegetables around his plate.  

“ _Daichi,”_ Sugawara admonished as Shouyou relaxed, giggling a little at Sawamura’s distraught expression, flushing at lingering feel of Tobio on his lips.

_He is… he_ so _is..._

Just then Akaashi popped out of one of the sleeping quarters with a cringe.  “Is something burning?”

“It wasn’t me this time!” Bokuto replied, waving happily at his partner and awake enough for the both of them.

Akaashi yawned, rolling his eyes.  “I’ll fish out some buns.”

The table sighed in relief.

\----

Satiated on pork buns, Tobio forced himself to keep busy by pretending to look for the evil, something Shouyou was certain to find incredibly boring.

_Wow, would you look at that, it’s still gone._

Wait--

_Nope, still gone.  Huh._

_Sigh._ In his world of no data, thoughts sneaked through the bubble of his boredom, thoughts about his new-- _team?_ \--and his old one.  He wondered what Oikawa would have to say about his budding relationship with the supreme being.  The drama queen would probably feign some jealousy, tossing in few scowls directed at Shouyou for added effect, even if he actually didn’t give a shit.

_Asshole._

In some ways, Tobio missed him.  Tobio didn’t know anything about the man’s parents or his friends, if he indeed had any, and vice-versa.  But Oikawa had been a stubborn tether that kept Tobio from completely detaching from the human race despite years of self-isolation aboard numerous missions.

  
Tobio wondered if he would have cared at all about the robed priest in the president’s office were it not for Oikawa’s tethering.

He wondered if he would’ve had any heart left to lend Shouyou his sweater back in the prison.

To take his shirt off in front of him, even if he’d been asleep.

To kiss him in front of everyone like a fucking idiot.

_Damnit.  Speak of the devil, err--_

“Hey, Tobio.  What’s up?” Shouyou asked as he walked over to sit next to Tobio at his on-board workstation.

“Mn,” he replied, not trusting his voice, looking back at the screen seriously to do some work.   _Very important work._

“It come back yet?”

“Don’t you think I would have said something?” Tobio replied tersely, keeping his back to Shouyou.  Because of him, his barriers were breaking down in front of other people, rubbing him raw.  Exhibit A: his embarrassment from the aftermath of their kitchen battle still burned, making his words come out as overcooked and salty as his vegetables.

Tobio felt his chair press forward as Shouyou leaned into his back, draping his slight arms around his shoulders and forming a human scarf that warmed Tobio from the inside out.

“You okay?” Shouyou asked quietly.

Tobio stiffened, but he eventually leaned back against Shouyou and placed his hand on one of Shouyou’s arms.  He closed his eyes and sighed, grounding himself once again in his warmth.

On one hand, he wanted those barriers gone so he could continue-- _feeling like this_ \--with Shouyou.  The security, the comfort, the unabashed _want._ On the other he was terrified, afraid that letting Shouyou in would burn him in some cruel, twisted way: that he would hurt Shouyou or get hurt himself.  To say nothing of where they’d be once the ritual was completed.

_What the fuck is wrong with me?_

Shouyou was the one thrust into all this nonsense without any say in the matter, Shouyou was the one who’d have to risk his life to destroy the evil, but Tobio was worried about how all this was making _him_ feel?

_You’re a selfish asshole._

In addition to his helpless unwinding around Shouyou, he found himself fighting ever-increasing impulses to keep Shouyou shielded from _allies,_ no less.  After he’d kissed his lips swollen and seen him come apart in his arms back in their room on Z Ori-a, he was on edge around the others, irrationally worried they would exploit his softness, and hurt him like he was--

Shouyou kissed the sensitive skin behind his ear, his worries stopped in their tracks.

“I’m sorry,” Tobio whispered.

“For?”

“I don’t… I don’t know what came over me, back there.  At the ship.”   _Liar._

“It’s okay, Tobio.”

Tobio squeezed Shouyou’s arm just a little bit tighter.

“I’m not helpless, you know,” Shouyou assured, and Tobio could hear the smile in his voice.

Tobio nodded imperceptibly.   _You’re so strong, Shouyou--_

Shouyou got up and spun Tobio’s chair around, planting a warm kiss right on his lips, in plain view of the entire cabin.  He stood over Tobio and smiled down at the floor, his cheeks flushing, fingers fidgeting, his entire squirming presence enchanting Tobio, as usual.

“But I… um, thank you, Tobio,” he finished in a soft voice, walking off to join the others.

As Tobio hung around the terminal with his mind blown, the others spent the remaining travel time navigating or entertaining themselves by chatting or playing games, the sounds of their fun drifting to Tobio as he obstinately “worked”.  Before Tobio knew it, hours had passed and their radar picked up on Sugawara’s people awaiting them at the drop point.

“Whoa, uhh… Suga?  Is this what you were expecting?” Sawamura asked, his voice going high-pitched with worry.

“Wow.  Can we call in, Akaashi?”

The ship commander nodded and he tapped away at the main terminal.  “This is Akaashi with Father Koushi Sugawara on board the Karasuno.”

A buzzy voice came on the comm, “Copy, Karasuno.  This is Father Morisuke Yaku on the Nekoma.  We read you loud and clear.”

“Morisuke!  It’s been quite a while!” Sugawara replied with a genuine smile on his face.

“Yes, Father.  I hope you don’t mind we brought some reinforcements.  Can’t let our leader take on this problem all alone, giving the rest of us a bad name!”

Some reinforcements meant a veritable armada, apparently, their already mighty command ship flanked by four stealth fighters and two scouting rigs.  

_Since when has the church been so badass?_

Shouyou had moved up near the command center, watching the scene before him unfold with wide, curious eyes.  Tobio looked on him with pride, his angel refusing to wilt under the pressure of enormous expectation even as Tobio was still all twisted inside.

_But if he wants me to, I’ll stand between him and the entire Galaxy…_

“How about our ships initiate a teleport lock, and a few of you guys can bridge and join us here.  We really want to meet the fifth ele--”

“No,” Tobio barked, the refusal leaving his mouth before his sense could kick in.

“Kageyama--”

“I want to stay here, if… that’s okay,” Shouyou interjected as he moved closer to Tobio, somehow understanding Tobio’s need.

_He shouldn’t have to be strong all the time._

After a terse silence and no small number of curious glances from Team Suga, Father Yaku agreed and Bokuto prepared the teleport platform for their interstellar arrivals.

As soon as the first robed man stepped off the teleport platform, Shouyou moved to stand behind Tobio.  The young man’s prior mistrust in his prison savior team had only signaled to Tobio that he had his head screwed on straight; though friends of Sugawara’s, he and Shouyou had no reason to trust these people.

Furthermore, Father Yaku and his team outnumbered and outgunned them enormously, Tobio sensing a familiar, covert tension that had marked his visit with President Tsukishima.

Sugawara approached the five new guests standing around the teleport pad.

“Father Yaku,” he said, shaking the similarly-robed man’s hand.  Father Yaku turned to introduce his entourage.

“I am Father Morisuke Yaku.  Accompanying me is Kazuhito Narita, Taketora Yamamoto, Hajime Iwaizumi, and Asahi Azumane.”  Each of the men bowed as they were announced, Shouyou shrinking further behind him with each passing name.  They formed a towering semi-circle around Father Yaku, their collective height dwarfing the objectively short stature of their leader.

“Now, who is our fifth element?” Father Yaku glanced around them with an expectant smile, his hands pressed together, his men quiet sentries behind him.

Sugawara made quick introductions of everyone else, saving Tobio and Shouyou for last.  Tobio took Shouyou’s hand in his own and stepped forward.

“I am Tobio Kageyama, and this is Shouyou Hinata, the fifth element.”  Shouyou remained behind him, letting Tobio protect him, and he soon figured out why.

One of the priests, the one with a landing strip of yellow hair cutting a path down his otherwise brown mop of hair, was sneering at Shouyou and their held hands.

_Deal with it, fuckwad._

Father Yaku stepped forward.  “It’s an honor to meet you, Hinata.  I’m Father Yaku, and we’re here to help you, well, help us!”  The man said with a smile that Tobio missed, his eyes locked on Landing Strip.

“It’s as I said, Father, this… this _team_ is corrupting the supreme being!” Landing Strip announced as some dam within him burst, his eyes locked with Tobio’s as he helplessly spewed his sludge everywhere.

Yaku closed his eyes as if to gather some patience and turned to address his neophyte.  “Now, now, Yamamoto, they’ve been successfully protecting him since his capture--”

“Are they even pious?  This is a mission of our church!  Why should we trust them with so monumental a task, Father?   _We_ should be the ones--”

“Enough, Yamamoto, we discussed this--”

“I agree with Tora, Father,” another of his peons interrupted in a steady voice, an imposing man with spiky hair.  “It’s not right that the supreme being is in leagues with known maniacal killers--”

“Hey, what’d you call us, asshole?” Bokuto charged.

Sawamura and Kuroo moved between Shouyou and their visitors as the arguing continued.  Tobio noticed Sugawara watching from the perimeter, his pinched eyebrows and puffed cheeks indicating he was about to explode.

_God help them.  Heh._

Tobio looked down at Shouyou, the young man’s wide eyes taking in every angry gesture and likely hearing everything, unable to tune out the words about him.

_Fuck this shit._ Tobio had just decided to tuck Shouyou away in their room when the ship shuddered under a loud boom, silencing the odious argument.

“What the fuck was that?” someone shouted.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto joined the man at the command center.

It all happened so quickly.  The see-through magic of the Karasuno ship blinked to permanent opaqueness, obscuring their surroundings from everyone inside.  Lights in the ship flickered as another boom sounded, this one powerful enough to send a few members of Team Suga and Team Yaku off their feet.  He heard shouting nearby and felt Shouyou clutching his arms as Tobio turned to shield the young man from what, he had no idea, his heart catapulting into a race towards an unknown, deadly destination.

Hands, hands were on him, shoving him, and he instinctively clutched Shouyou tighter; in the flickering light he saw Landing Strip trying to push him off of his Shouyou, using the chaos of the disturbance to his advantage.

_Never, you fucking prick._

They fought in the darkness, his vision seeing Yamamoto’s angry eyes in the scant glimpses of light as it flickered in and out, in and out in rapid sequence, Shouyou screaming in his arms and pushing against Yamamoto all the while.  The ship shook again from another loud bang, red emergency lights now flashing, illuminating the smoke now seeping into the ship’s cabin from the source of the noise.  He had no idea where anyone was except his angel by touch, his angel who had to yet again endure so much hardship on his quest to save the world.

_We can’t even trust our fucking allies..._

And then Landing Strip was ripped away, his violent hands gone in a flash, and Tobio used his freedom to cough out the noxious fumes that had infiltrated his lungs.

He moved forward to tuck Shouyou closer to him, but he was _gone_ \--he couldn’t see who took him, the betrayer unknown in the cabin’s chaos, Landing Strip a useless, unconscious servant of god on the floor.

Then a pair of rough, strong arms around his torso preceded the feeling of nothingness, and as Tobio stiffened in fright, pain, and _anger_ he instinctively waited for the air to change before opening his eyes as the forced teleport completed.

_Ship teleportation without a lock?  What the fuck--_

He struggled within the strong arms around him, but he was no match for his capturer.  And then he heard it.

“Ohh, my dear _Tooooobio_ , how good to see you again!”

He grit his teeth as a chasm of despair opened within him.  “ _Oikawa_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You bet your ass that kitchen scene was inspired by [this wonderful kagehina fan art](http://kairuru-art.tumblr.com/post/158937291771/this-viral-video-just-killed-me)!


	8. Me Protect You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oikawa sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those reading along, I am really sorry this chapter took as long as it did! Many, many things (good and bad) happened this month and this chapter was pretty hard to write to begin with, the reasons for which you will see. On a happy note, by the end of this week I will be completely moved into my new apartment near a city (finally). Please note the tags for potential trigger warnings in this series; I won't name any specific ones here because I don't want to give anything away. Anyways, the next chapter should not take so long. Happy reading, and thanks for tuning in :)

“What… what did you do?  Where’s--where’s Shouyou?”

“Mmm, Shouyou?  I see we’ve gotten close to someone, Tobio!  Such progress!”

Oikawa stood at the doorway of the small room and clapped, the harsh lighting no match for his perfectly coiffed locks.  Oikawa looked on as Tobio struggled with his capturer, the military man strong arming him into a large steel chair equipped with shackles for his wrists and ankles.  

Tobio growled as the final bracer was latched, rendering him helpless, helpless to save himself, helpless to protect Shouyou.  

_You’re a fucking failure._

The force of that thought had Tobio looking down at the dirty cement of the floor as he succumbed to the many faces of his anguish.  In his mind he saw Shouyou’s smile that warmed his soul, his big brown eyes that he’d utterly failed, felt his soft touch ghosting over his skin.  He squeezed his eyes shut and still saw afterimages of Oikawa’s permanent smirk, his once sole tether to the human race mercilessly shredded, years of trust built through assignments betrayed in an instant.  Two people, both his salvation in so many ways, but so, so different when push came to shove.

But one look at Oikawa’s face in the cold prison lighting and his anger gained a stronghold, going to battle with his despair and winning.  It flash heated his blood, boiling it, the shaking of his limbs having little to do with the ambient temperature.  He could feel his mind fuzzing out, incapable of processing his frayed emotions, his eyes glaring daggers at Oikawa, but he had to know--he had to stay sane for Shouyou, had to deal with it all later.  He had to find him, he had to _save_ him--

“Where the _fuck_ is he?” Tobio growled from the chair.

Oikawa laughed.  He _laughed._  “Ohhhh, Tobio, come on, that’s so _boring_.  Don’t you want to know how I did it?”

_Always about him_ , Tobio thought.  The rational part of his brain figured the man might slip-up and say too much if he got carried away talking about himself, which was almost a surety.  It was Oikawa, for fuck’s sake.  The irrational part of his brain wanted to ring his fucking neck, but both wanted nothing more than to get Shouyou back.

_Fuck you.  Fuck you fuck you, you piece of--_ “Fine.  How.”

The glimmer in Oikawa’s eyes indicated his delight.  “It was so easy, Tobio.  When you disappeared with the fifth element, President Kei asked for me personally.  He asked me-- _me,_ Tobio, how to get to you.  How to find you.  I knew you’d abandoned all your hardware… so, I asked myself… what does Tobio love more than anything in the whole world?”

He paused, manic smile in place, as if expecting Tobio to answer.

“What else, Tobio?  It was really so easy.  I attached a tracer script to your favorite computational models!  Anywhere your models went, I was sure to follow!  Not even a day later, you just had to port them onto the Karasuno, hmmm?”

Tobio’s stomach fell through the floor.   _Oh god… it was all my fault…_

“Well, there was a week when we couldn’t pick up on your location, what with all the interference.  So sneaky, Tobio!  Where oh where could Tobio have gone?  But just yesterday you poofed back on our radar, and here we are!” he finished with a wink.

His anguish won a skirmish, and he couldn’t help the tremulous words even if they made him seem weak, “W-why, Oikawa?  How could you--”

“Ohh, Tobio.  Tobio, Tobio, Tobio.  So many years together, crammed in cold little ships, crunching numbers.  Taking your orders.  Waking your ass up almost every day.  Commanders wanting _your_ opinions.  Did you know I graduated _summa cum laude_ at a top five university, Tobio?  I’m older than you, much more experienced, but here you come along, fresh out of college and greener than the palm trees of Fhloston Paradise yet you are supposed to be my superior?”

Oikawa scoffed, his eyes turning cold as they squinted down at Tobio, smirk transforming into a sneer.  “How many years was I ignored in favor of the so-called genius statistician?  Ah, I may not be as naturally talented as you, but I became the best through hard work and grit.  You didn’t _deserve_ it.  You didn’t _earn_ it.”

_All this for… for position?_

“Ah, but you’ve solved my problem for me, haven’t you?  Now I’m the data science consult to the President.  And you?  You’re _nothing_.  We are going to save the world, and you will rot in here or in some other hole in a wall for the rest of your life, however long it may be,” he said flippantly, his hand limp on his raised forearm.

_I’m… I’m nothing…_

_No!  Not to… not to Shouyou… oh, god, Shouyou…_

Tobio’s rage bubbled up once more, the thought of Shouyou’s fate breaking the haze of his self-destructive emotions.  “It won’t matter anyway when the evil gets here, you f-fucker, the President’s plan will destroy the Earth and everyone on it,” Tobio seethed through his clenched teeth, his anger forcing out the words harder and faster, so grateful for the sole ammo that he had left.  “Don’t you get it?  This has happened before!  You’re going to get us all _killed!_  Now tell me where the _fuck_ Shouyou is!”

“My, my, he’s so angry!” Oikawa said as he flipped his hair, as if Tobio’s anger could somehow disturb it from clear across the room.  “Oh, alright, I’ll give you a boon, my dear Tobio, for old times’ sake.  He’s here and safe, locked up like you.”

_He’s… he’s alive--_

“Well, you’ll have to interpret safe somewhat loosely,” Oikawa continued, his eyes turning shade of cruel that Tobio had never seen on him before.  “I’m sure there are some men on this ship who are _dying_ to know what the so-called supreme being tastes like.”

At first he felt nothing.  Numb.  Empty, all the anguish and anger sucked out of him somehow, leaving behind a high-pitched tone in his ears.  But then the images started, the reel of his trauma returning to flash in his mind, the jock forcing him up against the wall of that dark school hallway, but in his place was Shouyou, his angel, and he couldn’t take it, he’d do anything to take the pain for him, _anything--_

He didn’t remember screaming, thrashing in his bonds with enough force to bleed, nor the tears that streamed down his face.  He didn’t remember the pitying look Oikawa gave him as he left the room, the prison door sliding closed and locking Tobio in, forcing him in, leaving him alone with nothing, _nothing…_

\----

Shouyou felt a cold roughness beneath his body, chilling him through, his neck bent awkwardly with his head on the floor.

_You’d think I’d be used to this by now?_

Lying there on the floor, he remembered the Karasuno and the hits it endured from some outside attack.  He remembered being grabbed, Tobio keeping him close, the chaotic push and pull.  The guy with the weird yellow hair calling him corrupted, corruptible, yet using violence to achieve his own ends.

_Would the church really go this far to capture me?_

_At least they won’t try to kill me.   … Right?_

He sat up, stretching out a little to work out the kinks in his neck as he took stock of his cell.  He shivered in the cold, curling around himself, realizing he still wore Tobio’s sweater.

_Tobio…_

Maybe the church wouldn’t kill him, given his status, but everyone else… were they expendable?  Did everyone… did everyone on the ship… did everyone leave him again?

_Is Tobio still…_

He felt the tears form behind his eyes but held them at bay.  He’s told Tobio he was tougher than he looked; now he had to prove it.  He had to stay strong, stand on his two feet and figure a way out of this.  He had to remember that even for so short a time, even if… even if they’d all died… he’d had a team behind him, a team he wouldn’t let down no matter what--

The door to his prison cell slid open, his instincts urging him to take a defensive stance in the cell’s corner.

Flanked by several suited guards, a face Shouyou recognized from broadcasts strutted in, smiling as he glanced down at Shouyou.

_Holy…. holy shit!  President Tsukishima!_

His momentary shock aside, his smile… it wasn’t right.  Even Tobio’s eyes crinkled closed a little on the rare occasions he smiled, but the president’s eyes only seemed to get bigger as his teeth flashed.

“Shouyou Hinata.  25 years old.  Waiter and… washed-up volleyball player.  You know, I played volleyball in college,” the president intoned.

_Cool story bro._

The air around the president diffused, carrying its toxicity to every corner of the room.  Shouyou pushed through his heels, pressing his back into the wall, but there was no where else to go, no escape from the terror of the president’s presence.  Everything about the man felt _wrong,_ Shouyou’s instinctual repulsion making his breaths short and his heart race.  He’d never felt more like prey.

“Who would think someone as… _ordinary_ as you would become the supreme being,” the president mused, pausing in the center of the room to appraise Shouyou.  “Ah, in any case, I’m so glad to have you back, Shouyou Hinata.”

The hawks swirled about him in earnest.

The guards stood by the door as Tsukishima suddenly stepped forward and crouched in front of Shouyou.  His large hand shot out to squeeze Shouyou’s face, his eyes widening maniacally.  Shouyou’s inner arm burned with the contact as if on fire, and he whimpered as he still tried in vain to push himself through the prison wall, his hands grappling with the president’s outstretched arm to no avail, anything to get away from the man and the evil he exuded.

The president leaned in, his stale breath, his pungent aftershave, the black frames of his glasses overtaking Shouyou’s senses.  Animalistic fear drove thoughts from his mind as his feet crunched and skidded under the rough cement floor, a rabbit squirming futilely in the clutches of a hawk.

“He will be… _so pleased_ , Hinata.  It won’t be long now,” the president whispered, almost intimiately, Shouyou feeling the puffs of air on his face as sure as he heard the words.

_He…?_

The president got up quickly and left, the only evidence he’d been there at all was Shouyou’s heavy breathing and the burning of his arm.  He looked down at the burn and found the tattoo, the one he’d forgotten about, swollen and red with irritation.

His mom would’ve put a bag of frozen peas on it and called it a day, but all Shouyou could do was cradle his arm to his chest, wishing and hoping that someone would come to save him.  Again.

Hoping against hope that that person would be Tobio.  That he even _could_.  That he was… alive.  He shivered, but no more tears came.

\----

Hours or days may have passed, Tobio didn’t know.  No one else came by to further taunt him, but his mind was doing a hell of a job picking up the slack.

Shouyou was in this mess because of him, because he felt naked without his work nearby.  And because of his weakness, his _stupidity_ that made him port his favorite codes and models onto the Karasuno _,_ the only real person, friend, even, who’d kept him from completely detaching for years had been Oikawa, and he… he…

_The only person… the only…._

Shouyou’s name whispered in his head as the madness surrounded him, as if a shelter in the eye of a tornado, but he cared little if he was sucked away.  Shouyou wouldn’t want him after realizing that Tobio was worth betraying because he’d fucked up so badly, after seeing that Oikawa had betrayed him so easily, and now because of him everyone would _die_ \--

_But Shou would understand, wouldn’t he?_ , the thought surfaced, some part of his brain clutching to the shelter, unwilling to be torn away.

_No, not like this._

The thoughts cycloned behind his eyes for what felt like ages as he vaguely sensed his neck ache from hunching over within the confines of his prison, his arms sensitive and rubbed raw from the shackles, his legs and hips stiff from lack of movement.  But none of that mattered.

He closed his eyes on the room and saw the faces of Team Suga, envisioning the disappointment sure to be etched on Sugawara’s once gentle expression, the anger that had softened over the past week returning to tense up Sawamura’s face, and Kozume, who in so many ways understood him the most, all their figures looming over him in the dark before turning their backs on him and walking away…

A rumbling whining permeated the room and he peered around for the source, looking for some heating vent somewhere, but soon realized the noises were coming from his own throat.

Time became as unpredictable as the gusts of the churning storm within him.  He was unsure how much of the storm had passed him over when the door to his cell opened and a man he’d never seen before entered, closing the door quietly behind him.  The man walked over slowly, almost tip-toeing, kneeling down in front of Tobio who was too busy wrapping himself up in his all-consuming prison to give much of a shit.

“Shhh, please, you have to be quiet,” the man urged, taking one of Tobio’s hands.  “Look, I’m… I’m going to get you out of here, okay?  Just _please_...”

The soft words a surprise, Tobio looked up to truly assess the man before him, but his physical features only confirmed he was just a figment of Tobio’s imagination.  His hair, though olive green, looked just like Sugawara’s, and he had a smattering of freckles across his cheeks that made Tobio think of… think of…

“ _Shouyou,_ ” he croaked, beseeching the specter before him for some kind of assurance but knew he wouldn’t get any.

“I can’t… I… we can’t get him, I can only get you, but you can go back to your friends and then--”

“No!   _No, we have to get Shou!_ ”  he yelled as he thrashed in the chair again, startling the timid hallucination enough that he fell back on his ass on the dirty floor.

The alleged man turned his head towards the door, beseeching Tobio, “P-please, be quiet!  You’ll kill us both!”

“Leave me, please go… go get him instead…”

“I-I can’t!  There’s too many people around him right now, that’s the only reason I could even get in here to save _you_!” the man cried, clutching at Tobio’s cold, clammy hands.

“But… but I can’t leave him,” Tobio whispered, the chasm of despair within him widening, threatening to suck him under until he lost himself completely, permanently.

“Wh-what g-good are you to him if you d-die in here, huh?”  the man reasoned as he started working on Tobio’s shackles.

“ _I won’t!_ ”  The force of his refusal startled the man again, his wide, unfamiliar eyes brimming with tears.

Tobio squeezed his own eyes shut, unable to take in the sight of his so-called savior or the room around him as he let go, the cyclone carrying him up, up, _up_.  He heard the man talking to someone, someone not in the room-- _to me?_ \--the words impossible to discern above the roaring gales of his mental storm as he was carried away.

\----

As Tobio’s rescuer tried to convince him to escape, Shouyou’s cell door opened again to admit a man in a lab coat and several well-armored guards; Shouyou couldn’t help the tears when they roughly hauled him from the floor and dragged him into the hallway.  He fought as they entered a brightly lit laboratory, fought even harder as they roughly divested him of his clothes, his crying inducing chest heaves as they strapped him to the cold, metal table and covered his naked body with a flimsy sheet, his arm strangely burning all the while.

Having secured their quarry, the guards left him alone with the lab coat man.  He squirmed inasmuch as possible in his restraints, whimpering as he watched the man arrange a set of metal tools on a tray before him, their clanging sharp against the low drones of the buzzing panic in his ears.

Unable to move, Shouyou’s eyes jumped around the clinical room, at the bright lights shining down above him, the sterile-looking cabinets and neat counters stacked with red canisters and towels.  Along one wall, a window pane let in light from the hallway, through which he saw the president and a bunch of other well-dressed men watching him with cold, impassive eyes.  He whined wordlessly, his crying tapping into a seemingly bottomless pool of tears as he squirmed on the cold table.

In his frenzied survey of the room, his brain skidded to a halt at the strange afterimage of the president.  He returned his eyes to Tsukishima to confirm the oddity, seeing the same maniacal smile, the same void look in his eyes, but now Shouyou noticed an inexplicable shadow on his face.  Upon closer inspection, a weird darkness spotted along the president’s brow, collecting in droplets as if sweat seeping through his pores, so obvious and gruesome against his light skin and blonde hair.

_This has to be fake… this… this can’t be happening… when will I wake up--_

His eyes widened and his tears dried as he watched the black substance collect in bigger and bigger blobs, the viscous fluid soon ambling down the president’s forehead in rivulets towards his eyebrows.  The president wiped it away with a stained cloth with a disturbing nonchalance, his eyes unerringly fixed on Shouyou.

The lab coat man turned, his shaking hands wielding-- _oh god_ \--surgical tools Shouyou recognized from some of his favorite scary movies.  He tried to get up, to get _away_ but he was strapped down, his movements ineffectual against the straps and braces of his… his _operating table_ , he realized with dread.

The lab coat man looked up as several others in scrubs filed into the room to surround him, forming a wall of green fabric and white masks and caps around Shouyou’s naked body, his fervor to be released increasing with each new pair of eyes, their happenstance anonymity making them seem alien, his breath coming out in loud pants.

Suddenly the sheet was removed, one of the Scrubs rubbing his chest down with a weird brown liquid.

Lab Coat Man approached with a _fucking scalpel_ and Shouyou looked back over at the window to see the president, his warden, the descending hawk.  While not wielding the knife himself, Shouyou knew the president was the director of this turn of events, which the man confirmed himself with eerie words over the scratchy loudspeaker in the room, “Alright, doctor, let’s see what makes the supreme being _tick…._ ”

Shouyou looked up at the so-called doctors; though their images were blurry through his tears, he found apprehension on their faces in the wideness of their eyes and their furrowed brows.

“ _Please,_ ” he beseeched the scalpel-wielding man.  “Please, _please don’t…”_

Lab Coat Man turned back around, as if to seek assurance from the president whom Shouyou could no longer see behind the wall of Scrubs.  

“Let me _go_ ,” he whined, latching onto the doctor’s eyes when he turned back around.  “Please… _help.”_

The man grimaced, proving he had a shred of humanity left before breaking Shouyou’s gaze, panning his bugged out eyes over Shouyou’s chest.

And then he began to slice.

Shouyou screamed and screamed and screamed, his tattoo burning as fiercely as the pain running a scathing line down his chest, his blood magma pouring from the wound down towards the table, scorching the skin in its wake.  As he closed his eyes and willed it all to end, he hoped with all his might that he could be transported somewhere, anywhere, with Tobio, he was so scared--

_Oh god… oh GOD--_

_TOBIO!_

\----

Tobio barely noticed that his rescuer had left the room while his phantoms swirled about him with a vengeance, the faces of his friends scrolling by behind his eyelids, the storm picking back up and stronger than ever.  As his hallucinations increased in fervor, those phantoms materialized and they grabbed at him, tugging and pulling, taking his shackles off to shuttle him to hell.   _No less than I deserve._  They carried him down a series of quiet hallways but Tobio’s mind was already far gone, the rubber soles of his boots skidding and catching uselessly on the ground.

Everything about the hallucination felt so real: the cold air in his lungs, the lights passing over him as he was moved, the firm hands under his arms dragging his limp body further from his prison cell, the screaming, the--

_Wait a second--_

Screaming, he heard screaming, the voice of the person he wanted to hear more than anything snapping him out of his daze.

_Shouyou--Shouyou?!_

“ _SHOUYOU!_ ” he screamed in return, craning his neck behind him towards the voice, towards _his Shouyou_ as the lights above him flickered, but he couldn’t go to him, his shouts for help useless-- _again, again--_ the hands pushing him away, away from Shouyou-- _tearing at his clothes--_ and shoving him onto a platform, and then he and his phantoms were gone.

\----

Tobio was transported to a cavernous hall, so unlike his prison cell that he jumped back, his usual teleport composure shattered by shock.  Flickering candelabras fastened into craggy stone walls emitted a warm glow that cast the familiar faces of his comrades in undulating shadows.  

He shivered, acutely feeling the distance between him and Shouyou.

“Take me back, you have to take me back!” he implored to his so-called rescuer, the meek looking man with olive green hair who turned out to not be a ghost at all.

“We can’t, Kageyama, we could only get you--”

“ _BULLSHIT!_ We were on the same ship!  I’m nothing compared to him, why the _fuck_ would you get me instead?”

“It was our only choice,” Sugawara implored as he approached Tobio slowly, his hands extended in front of him as if to placate Tobio’s ire.  “Please understand.  They were guarding him like hawks, Kageyama, enough to ignore you long enough to give us the chance.  You’re one of us, now.”

_No--I’m nothing, they should’ve--_

“But now we need you to help us.  Help us get him out, Kageyama.  No one understands the inner workings of government aircraft more than you and Yamaguchi do.   _Please._ ”

Tobio backed himself into the stony wall, vaguely registering its grit poking in through his shirt as he leaned against it.  His head shook unconsciously, the intensity of his breathing ramping up as his disbelief overtook him; they’d abandoned him--

“He was screaming, and crying, and you just _left him there!  Everyone_ leaves him!  He _trusted_ you!  He trusted… he--it was all my fault--”  

As the words petered out of his mouth in his breakdown, Sugawara grabbed his shoulders.  “There’s nothing for it now!  You have to calm down!”

_Do they… do they know it was me?_

Tobio withered as he took in the dark rings under Sugawara’s eyes, the wayward frays of his hair, the hopelessness written like jagged scars all over his face.

_Oh god, we are so fucked… and it’s all my fault…_

After a time he nodded, his swings between anguish and anger exhausting him; he collapsed on the floor, his head hot and his knees weak.  Through his burdensome emotions, a sliver of hope poked through that tethered him to his surroundings, a shelter in the storm.  If Shouyou was alive, if helping these people, his so-called _team_ meant he could have Shouyou back, he could withstand anything.  He _would_ withstand anything.

He may have left Shouyou alone, the young man who had been so alone for years, but he would fight with every ounce of strength left inside him to close the distance between them.  He’d never let him go again.

Tobio’s pensive silence at the conclusion of his emotional outburst paved the way for the meek-looking man with Sugawara’s hair to step forward in the flickering darkness.  “So, um…. I-I’m Yamaguchi, from the president’s ship.  I’m afraid there’s some… really weird stuff going on--”

“Oh ya?  And why should we trust anything you have to say?” Kuroo interrupted, Bokuto nodding next to him.

“I told you, Tetsu, he’s an old friend--”

“An old _e-_ friend.  You’ve never met, Kenma,” Kuroo replied as he extended an arm around Kozume’s shoulders to pull him close into his side.  “The church was supposed to be on our side, and look what those shitstains ended up doing.”

Tobio cast his eyes around the cavern, finding only one of the church members in attendance, the tall man with his long hair up in a bun.

Tobio wondered what became of Landing Strip and his holier-than-thou betrayal.

“I trust him, isn’t that enough for you?  Kageyama would still be on that ship were it not for him,” Kozume retorted quietly, turning his face to his partner.

Kuroo quieted down, but the hard set of his eyes said he wasn’t finished, not by a long shot.

Argument temporarily sidelined, Yamaguchi continued, “I-I have reason to believe the president is under some kind of influence.  He’s acted so strangely lately, doing odd things and nothing I have said or done has dissuaded him from his actions.  I think he’s going to endanger us all, but when I voiced my concerns, he totally ignored me… he usually listens to me--”

“What kinds of things?” Sugawara asked, his voice a barren wasteland.

Yamaguchi shivered, looking Sugawara in the eye as he answered.  “He, um… he keeps referring to some man, as if he were, um… acting as his servant or something?  B-but… the president answers to no one, as far as I know…”

With those words Sugawara got very quiet, his eyes casting down as if in deep thought.

“And, um… w-when he’s, doing… bad things… he, um… he sweats black fluid?”

“What the actual fuck?” Kuroo whispered as he exchanged a worried glance with Bokuto.

“When did this all start?” Sawamura asked.

“I guess… hmmm…” Yamaguchi’s eyes widened as it hit him.  “Just before Kageyama and his team found the great evil.”

_Oh god…_

Yamaguchi’s words shifted the mood of the group for the worse, and a solemn silence settled over the team.  Tobio clutched his knees close to his chest, the room feeling colder and more desolate by the minute.

“Can the evil… do that?  Influence a person like that?” someone murmured out of Tobio’s line of sight.

“So we have to assume the president is compromised, and if what you say is true, it’s not likely he can be swayed away from his current course,” Sugawara reasoned.  “And with the armed forces at his disposal, he’s practically untouchable.”

Yamaguchi nodded.  “Right now they have the stones and the element--”

“Shouyou Hinata,” Tobio firmly corrected, his voice sounding harsh even to his own ears.  “His name is _Shouyou_.”

“R-right, Hinata,” Yamaguchi gulped, but continued.  “I think I know where the stones are, but while you all regrouped to deal with Hi-Hinata and Kageyama’s capture, the president had time to secret them away even beyond the scope my sight.  He’d assigned me to the ele--err, Hinata’s detail, and someone would have noticed if I went snooping.  The president had made us all so paranoid.  Security won’t be lax, wherever the stones are.  Kenma and I can try to trace where they’ve gone, but at this point, they’ll know we’re going to hack in to look.”

“Who do they have?” Kozume quietly asked.

“Tooru Oikawa.  He’s good.  He’s _really_ good, and seems personally invested but I don’t know why.  He’ll be trouble.”

Tobio’s fists clenched from his perch on the floor.

“And though she’s not really much of hacker, if Dr. Yachi is involved, we have to stay on our toes.”

“Anyone else?”

“If we work together?  I don’t think so.”

Kozume and Yamaguchi shared a smile, the two finding some small thing to anticipate--hacking the highest levels of the government--in a world turned dim.  Tobio thought that seeing such smiles on the faces of his teammates would be an increasingly rare occurrence in the days to come.

Yamaguchi sighed.  “I know this isn’t what you want to hear,” he glanced at Tobio as he spoke, his brows drawn together, his voice trembling.  “But Hinata is under an extreme security detail.  Only the president knows the codes to his cell.  He’s… he’s being tortured, and especially now that Kageyama is gone, it will likely, um… c-continue.”

Tobio thought he might never smile again.

Sugawara hugged himself as a few tears slipped from his eyes, while Tobio’s stomach dropped into a sudden abyss.  Even in his cyclonic delusion, Tobio knew he’d heard Shouyou screaming on the ship, he knew he’d been in pain, but to hear the words spoken so easily by this government traitor made it all the more real.  He shivered, and it wasn’t until Sugawara joined him on the floor to embrace him did he realize he was crying, too.

He’d give literally _anything_ to take Shouyou’s place.  He sobbed into Sugawara’s shoulder, the two clutching each other, Tobio staining his pretty robes with ugly tears.

Yamaguchi continued, sparing a regretful glance to the two on the floor.  “We… we have to focus on the stones; the reason is twofold.  One, they’ll be easier to get, what with the president’s obsession with Hinata.  And two, if we cause enough of a ruckus getting the stones, maybe the president’s laser-focus on Hinata will weaken enough for us to find some kind of back door.”

“A ruckus, huh?”  Kuroo and Bokuto smiled at each other, their serious expressions slackening for a moment of camaraderie as they bumped fists.  “Consider it done.”

Sawamura, ever the strategist, took the reins of the conversation, and Tobio’s crying gave way to relief; if anyone could figure this out, it was Sawamura. “Alright, folks.  The evil is still M-I-A.  The Karasuno needs extensive repairs, even with Azumane’s help getting us out of there, but we aren’t completely grounded.”  Sawamura and the church bun man exchanged a nod before he continued.  “Tetsu, Kou, and I will work on the ship while our hackers do what they do.  Yamaguchi is right, we need to get the stones back first.”  

The group hashed out a few more odds and ends, nodding together as they separated to work their roles to save the world.  Sawamura’s steady dictating seemed to enliven the group, infusing it with a much needed sense of purpose except for the two still huddled on the floor.  After kissing Sugawara on the crown of his head, Sawamura hustled off with the lackey duo to get their transportation up and running.

Tobio and Sugawara watched the group dissipate down the darkened corridors of the cavern.

Tobio sniffled a little bit as they separated, clearing his throat before talking.  “Where the fuck are we?”

Sugawara huffed out a laugh, wiping streaks of tears off his cheeks.  “We are underground--”

“Where?”

“Mm, on Proxima Centauri.  When you and Shouyou were taken during the attack, Yaku and his minions left us to save their own skins.”  Sugawara smirked bitterly, shaking his head before he continued.  “Little did Yaku know that the church’s mass exodus drew the bulk of the government’s attention; we were able to get away with only moderate damage to the ship, and Azume managed to bring with him one of the church’s stealth fighters.”

Tobio nodded, the good news a small eddy in the raging storm.  “We aren’t in danger here?  The church--”

“I think after realizing that their ship with the stones was commandeered, Yaku decided to regroup somewhere else, unwilling to draw the government to the location of the only temple suited to saving Earth.  It’s our final, most precious secret.”  Sugawara let out a long sigh.  “At the end of the day, our goals and those of the church are the same, I just think… Yaku would rather be first, even if it means our deaths.  It seems Yamamoto’s difference of opinion did not fall on deaf ears.”

Tobio shook his head, wondering why everything was such a fucking competition.  “So we have to… wait to…”

Sugawara nodded, a few tears escaping, retracing the tracks down his cheeks.  “We have to wait to get Hinata.  But he’s so strong, Kageyama.  He’ll… he’ll be okay, and we’ll get him back,” Sugawara finished, his body wracking once more with shakes.

A familiar wave of hatred flushed Tobio’s cheeks and propelled him to stand.  Not hatred at their enemies, the church, or their bleak situation, but hatred towards himself.  At that very moment, some psychopath could be with Hinata, hurting him, _torturing_ him, and what the fuck was Tobio doing, crying like a child on the floor, doing fucking _nothing_?

With his main course of self-hatred came a side dish of impostor syndrome, and he deflated thinking about what he could even do to help the experts already on their team.  He probably couldn’t identify a ship engine if it stared him in the face, and their hackers were above and beyond his capabilities at the terminal; in fact, his lazy codes got them in this situation in the first place.

Sugawara seemed to sense his inner turmoil, and he stood and held one of Tobio’s hands.  “No one blames you for what happened, Kageyama.  They would have found us eventually.  And now, Kozume needs your help, so please… go get our boy back.”

Tobio nodded, glancing back at Sugawara briefly before leaving him alone in the stark cavern.  He promised himself he would do anything until Shouyou was back in his arms, and he had to make good on that promise.

\---

Shouyou woke, his bleary eyes taking in the cold, stark prison cell he vaguely recognized from when he first arrived on the government ship.  His limbs weighed heavily on his frame, a feeling familiar to him after a hard day at volleyball practice.  His chest felt itchy and sore, the memory of why just out of his grasp like a dangling carrot.

Though he remembered his terrifying encounter with the president in that very room, he struggled to remember anything else, the memories all stacked together and indistinguishable, as if vying for his absolute attention all at once.  He looked down at himself and found a ratty white sheet loosely covering him, matted with dried blood, and he wondered where Tobio’s sweater went.

_Where’s Tobio?  Blood?  What the…_

His hands were shaking and he didn’t understand why they would do that as he did something so simple as lift the sheet, peel it away from where it stuck to his heaving chest, tugging until his tented skin released the fabric to reveal… to reveal…

Too-bright lights.  Scrubs.  Men in masks, men with wide eyes, men with _cruel eyes_ , the alien black sweat, the pain, the burning, searing _pain_ , the scalpel easily parting his flesh.

He hastily inspected his wounds, finding nasty, crusted scars crossing down his chest towards his abdomen, the line of broken skin held together by a bramble of black staples.  His skin seemed to reject the intrusion, throbbing an angry, hot red around the sutures.

And then he was hyperventilating, his cries summoning tears that dripped down in earnest to soak the sheet, droplets that interspersed with the-- _his_ \--dried blood.  A few salty teardrops fell on his massive scar and stung so hard he yelled.

He cried for himself, he cried for Tobio who might be on the ship with him, who might _right now_ be under the same medieval inspection as Shouyou, or… or _worse_.  He cried for his team who might all be dead after the attack on the Karasuno, all dead because they were protecting him, all dead trying to save the world.  He cried for the pain of crying, his chest so sore and tired.  He cried for everything, the whole world, for what seemed like forever.

\----

It took a while, but soon Shouyou marked the time by the frequency of his meals, each one making him fear less and less the swinging open of his prison cell door.  Each meal meant the throbbing of his chest dulled even further as his hunger more easily superseded the pain.

Each minute alone in his cell was time for him to recuperate in order to face his captors once more and prove that despite what they’d done to him that he wouldn’t be broken.  He _couldn’t_ be broken, not when he had his whole team behind him, and Tobio, even if only in… in memory.

A few tears escaped, but he knew he could be strong.  He wanted to find Tobio, where ever he was, and tell him how strong he was, for him, for them both.  Tobio would be so proud of him, he knew it.  Maybe he could even see him smile.  He knew Sugawara--Koushi--would praise him, would nod as if he fulfilled his duty as the supreme being.

_I won’t let these bastards see me cry again._

If his feeding schedule was to be trusted, it wasn’t until a few days later that anyone came by for a visit, his heart hardened, the hopelessness that made it bleed newly transformed into firm resolve.  He could _do_ this.  

“How does it feel, _Shouyou_?”

His visitor was tall, almost as tall as Tobio, with brown hair perfectly styled around a hardened expression.  He couldn’t help but feel threatened by the man’s cruel eyes but he was _ready_.

“Who the hell are you?” he growled at his intruder.

“My, my, so much anger, you two!  If you _must_ know, I happen to be the reason you’re here, Shouyou.  Well, really, it was your sweetheart, but I was the only one close enough to catch onto his many mistakes.”

Shouyou sat and stared at the man, a sadness creeping into his heart as the puzzle pieces fell into place.  There was only one person who knew Tobio well enough to do something like that, the name a whisper in the back of his mind coming forth of its own volition.

_His… his only_ maybe _friend…._

“Oikawa,” he sadly whispered the name.

“Oho, he told you about me?  Well, I can’t say I’m surprised.  It’s hard to forget the pebble in his shoe, no?” he remarked as he flipped his hair.

Shouyou didn’t dignify that with a response, the anger that had accumulated the past few days?--weeks?--returning in full force.

“I wonder what he’d say, seeing you like this, all broken and cowering in the corner,” Oikawa taunted after Shouyou presumably remained silent too long for his liking.

_I’m not broken!_

Shouyou stood, his indignation on behalf of Tobio giving life to his limbs, propelling him from the floor into a defensive crouch, the pain in his chest ripping through him.

“ _How could you betray him?_ ” Shouyou yelled.

Oikawa’s eyes widened as he stepped back at Shouyou’s word, but his smirk soon returned as he was joined by several armed personnel, the security detail dwarfing the already small cell.

“Ahh, ha, well, it seems we are out of time, my sweet little Shouyou.  We need you to tell us where Tobio and his stupid little friends went, or we’ll open you up again,” Oikawa threatened with a cruel light in his eyes, a threat Shouyou barely heard.

_They’re…. they’re alive?_

“I’m not telling you _shit_ ,” he sneered, the words sounding vulgar to his ears, his strong veneer not cracking even in the face of numerous enemies.  Not when he knew his friends were alive, even if he had no idea where they could’ve gone.

Oikawa sighed.  “The hard way, then.  Boys?”

He’d rather _die_ than give up his team.  He wouldn’t leave them, not now, not _ever_.  He took a deep breath as the men approached to prepare himself for the onslaught.

His tattoo burned stronger than ever before, his--acceptance? readiness?--for whatever the future held flipping some switch inside of him.  He watched as if a fly on the wall as he let out a war cry, easily evading the charge of the armored men.  His hand delivered quick, potent slices to disable all who came at him with deadly efficiency, his small body transforming into a vessel of tightly-reined power, all the while the lights above him flickered.

_What the… what’s happening to me?_

As the bodies of the armored men thumped to the floor, the lights above extinguished completely, blanketing the cold cell in utter darkness.  Breathing heavily, a strange glow had him looking down at his tattoo, the dots bright like glowing embers in the pitch dark cell.  He watched the pointillist lines wobble and swirl around, forming a living pattern that coincided with a… feeling of rightness within him, as if he’d just nailed a straight spike for the match point at nationals.  He looked up in surprise, realizing he could still _see_ in the pitch darkness of his cell, identifying a sole survivor of his out-of-nowhere martial arts skills.  He watched Oikawa’s eyes skitter blindly about the room just before the man bolted with his arms outstretched in front of him, leaving the cell door open in his haste.

Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Shouyou tightened the sheet around him and made to follow, shutting the prison door and locking it.   _Three fewer jerkwads to worry about._

Shouyou ran down the darkness of the hallway with no plan, his breaths leaving him in short, powerful shots, no rhyme or reason for the paths he chose except that something inside him _told him_ to go left there, enter _that_ door, climb _those_ stairs, a series of instinctual instructions driving him forward at a blistering pace, his naked feet slapping against the sterile tile below.

He ran into more guards along his route whom he disabled with the same ease as the ones in his cell, the darkness now making it even easier for him to dominate his attackers, the fifth element stamp on his soul granting him powers like some kind of superhero.  He took a few hits to his chest, the pain momentarily crushing him before the adrenaline forced it aside.  

He didn’t know how in the hell his prowess on the volleyball court merited some sick martial arts skills, but he couldn’t _wait_ to tell Tobio--his living, _breathing_ Tobio--all about it.

After he kissed him senseless, of course.

Relief mixed with his bursting adrenaline at the thought of Tobio absconding to safety outside of the reach of the government, outside the reach of the evil president and his bizarre darkened sweat.  As he ran he felt his cheeks tighten, his first smile in what felt like forever.

_I’ll get you to, Tobio.  Somehow.  I’m coming--_

He reached a door down one of the ship’s many branched hallways, a door that his body told him to enter.  He enclosed himself inside quietly, muffling the sounds of his moving and breathing from the corridor, the room totally dark save for his tattoo.

A darkness in which he could still see when all others could not.

He pivoted to find the door’s lock, raising his shaking hands to feel along its frame all the while hearing the heavy beat of footsteps and frenzied shouting race past the relative security of his hiding spot.  The tattoo’s red light helped him find a mechanical lock, and he waited until he heard silence on the other side of the door before engaging its noisy bolt.  He backed away from the door,  knowing it wouldn’t be long until they found him.

_Okay, now what?_

Realizing he’d just locked himself in a room, alone, with no alternative escape routes, he spun around the office in a panic.   _Am I a dumbass horror movie character now?!_ His eyes moved over the book-laden shelves on either side of the door and the large desk opposite the entrance, piled high with a busy array of papers.  He raced towards the desk and shuffled everything around, bending down to dig through the drawers, looking for some kind of instinctual hint to tell him what to do.

Though he trusted his new-found instincts, he panicked and cried as he opened the final drawer in the desk, his final hope, having found nothing of use elsewhere in the desk.

Buried amongst candy bars, wrappers, and a few dog-eared manuals, he slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his panicked cries as his searching hand found something, something small but heavy, a compact metal object.  His salvation.

_A personal teleporter._

While his former excitement over the devices had been long ago eclipsed by stark fear, he wagered the odds were low of him going two for two on faulty teleporters.   _Well, I_ am _a dumbass movie character, apparently._ He shook his head-- _this is gonna work!!_ \--and it wasn’t until he activated the device and was confronted with its blinking location prompt that he realized he had no idea where to go.

He tried entering Z Ori-a, then Earth, but when both were rejected by the device as being out of range an involuntary groan escaped his mouth at his shoddy luck.  He thought about the ship, the Karasuno, but remembered what Bokuto had told him about Akaashi’s teleporter and how it was too dangerous to use to poof onto ships.  Not that he knew where it was.   _Shit!_

He grabbed a candy bar and shoved it in his mouth as another layer of worry fell over him; he couldn’t go just _anywhere_.  What if Oikawa had lied, and the church really had betrayed them?  He knew he couldn’t very well go to Proxima Centauri under those circumstances and risk capture again.  Shouyou figured with how close the exoplanet was to Earth, it’d probably be out of range, anyway.  He felt his face scrunch up.

He had to come up with a place to go before he ran out of time and the president’s macho men found him, but prior to his adventures with Team Suga, he’d never even left Earth, let alone explore the Galaxy.  He wasn’t worldly like Tobio, who probably had a cache-- _cache?_ \--of a hundred familiar places to teleport to in the event of an emergency.  He needed to think of a place not encoded in Karasuno’s possibly compromised logs, a place the government wouldn’t ever suspect he’d go, a place that would be _safe_.

He smiled as it hit him, remembering Tobio’s blue eyes in the Tanaka sky room on Z Ori-a.

As his hands shook on the teleporter as he sought his destination, his thumbs missing their mark more often than not, he heard a stampede of heavy footsteps outside the door.

“Come on, _come on!_ ”

The manual lock withstood the barging from the enemies on the other side, but Shouyou knew he was out of time.  A whimper escaped him as he finally found his mark, the teleporter range miraculously sufficient to take him where he wanted to go.   _We must be close already…_

He held the device in front of him as it whizzed and whirled, and he squeezed his eyes shut and felt himself get dumped out into nothingness just as the door to the office burst open.

\----

What with the government’s extensive encryption, it took Yamaguchi and Kozume several days to breach the deepest levels of security on the president’s primary ship.  Tobio spent most of that time pacing.

Every day Tobio grew more impatient, more frustrated, more angry at the thought of Shouyou being locked up for even one second longer at the hands of that _fucking asshole_.  An anger that made itself evident as he barked out replies to the hacker’s various questions about government ships and data maintenance.

The evil was still missing, Shouyou was still locked up, the Karasuno’s repairs were taking much longer than expected, and they were just barely sifting through the president’s logs after days of covering their tracks.  

_This is seven types of fucked._

Tobio was startled out of his devolved line of thinking by a celebratory hooting from Yamaguchi.

“I found the stones!”

“Already?” Kozume replied, as if it hadn’t already been _fucking days._

“Yep, I’ve identified the satellite ship.  It’s only got one guard ship, probably to avoid drawing any attention.  Can you let the others know?”

Kozume tapped into his com and Tobio stepped up to the terminal, looking over Yamaguchi’s shoulder at the intel that would lead them to the stones.

A question popped into his head, one he was surprised didn’t come to him sooner.  “What about Shouyou?  Can we… can we see him?”

Yamaguchi looked at Tobio for a second before nodding, turning to tap away at the holographic terminal controls, the monitor changing rapidly until a video feed and scrolling text filled the screen.

“Now that we’re in, it’s easy to look at different--mmm--uhh, wait a second.  He’s, um, not in his cell right now--”

“Where is he?” Tobio asked as he clutched the top of Yamaguchi’s chair, his heart speeding up as he feared the worst.

“Weird… the whole ship is on lockdown.  I’m surprised I even have access, usually the firewalls--”

“Can you see him or not?” Tobio interrupted with a bark, causing the eager hacker to jump in his seat.

The man panned through a series of video feeds that covered the expanse of the ship, one of them revealing the president in his office with a group of what Tobio presumed to be his evil minions.   _Fucking assholes._

“He’s, um, he’s not on the ship--”

“WHAT?” Tobio shouted.

Yamaguchi ignored him as he scrolled through logs and communication transcriptions as Kozume rejoined them.  They were soon flanked by most of Team Suga, the lot of them eager to hear some good news after Kozume signaled them over his com.

Tobio’s patience was running thin as he watched Yamaguchi read through the text indiscernible from his distance, but as a silence descended over the group, the young hacker pushed back his chair and stood with a smile plastered on his childlike face.

“Hinata!  He… he escaped!”


	9. Super Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Kageyama both discover they are not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks, I deeply apologize for the delay of this chapter. For one, it's quite a bit longer than the others (I couldn't leave it on a dang cliffhanger this time, you're welcome) and just, a lot of shit happened. Anyways, please enjoy this monster almost-11,000-word-chapter. I hope you like it. Some of you have sent me tumblr messages and I am just... I die of joy when you do that. Thank you. No, I will not abandon this fic, I will complete it in a (mostly) timely fashion.
> 
> Also I'd like to personally thank [Kryste_Harte](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Kryste_Harte) for being so kind and constructive with their comments. You are wonderful!!

Shouyou was startled by the contrast in his new location: whereas the president’s ship was bleak and sterile, the air on Luxate smelled fresh, the twilight sky streaked with a spectrum of darker blues despite the high rise of its host star.  

Shouyou peered around the environs on Tobio’s favorite planet but found little other than the dirt and green grass under his feet and the stalks of very tall trees surrounding him, the lot of which were topped with huge heart-shaped green leaves.  The stalks reached in vain towards the peaking star overhead, their network of broad leaves blocking Shouyou from receiving the star’s already paltry radiation.

He panted and sat on the soft ground as the adrenaline of his escape receded, his shaking hands clutching at the dirty sheet just above his sutures.  He’d taken a few hits from the armed guards on the president’s ship while getting away, and now that he’d been transported to Luxate, the underlying pain from his torture and their attacks resurged with a vengeance.  

He felt panic as he considered his predicament; he was in the middle of nowhere on a brand new planet, alone, basically _naked_ , with nothing to his name but the teleporter.  He looked down at the device, a symbol of the pinnacle of human engineering, his salvation, now a useless trinket in the middle of the forest.  

About as useless as his newfound martial arts skills.

He hugged himself, remembering what Tobio had said.  Somewhere on this big hunk of dirt humans had indeed set up a colony; unfortunately, Tobio had divulged no other practical information about the planet, what with Hinata’s eagerness to learn more about him.

_He’s right, I am a dumbass!_

He breathed in and out deeply to stymy the panic, trying to calm himself down as if he was about to play in a volleyball match-- _shit, I was never any good at that--_ then let his thoughts drift to Tobio.

Before he escaped, Oikawa confirmed that his group was alive.  He brought his knees to his chest and smiled, images of Tobio in the half-light of their ship compartment on the Karasuno flashing in his mind.  He felt goosebumps on his arms where Tobio touched him during their first kiss, where Tobio pressed his hands on his hips to encourage Shouyou to fall apart…

_I have to live through this, if only to see him again._

He stood and shivered, twisting around to scope out any signs of civilization.  Far off in the distance through a gap in the trees he spotted a stack of smoke, lighting up the noontime darkness of the planet.  As far as Shouyou knew, nothing made smoke like that other than humans, and if Tobio had visited this planet before, it was probably safe for him to be here, too.  He turned to head in the smoke’s direction, carefully watching the ground underneath his bare feet in the darkness, pushing forward despite the pain in his chest, his bedraggled state of dress, and his worsening fatigue.

The smoke got larger and larger, but the buildings Shouyou expected to see producing it never materialized on the horizon.  He craned his neck up to look beyond the trees but it was no use; his vertical challenges could not be overcome with mere tippy toes.  

When Shouyou thought of a human colonization, he thought of his only example, Earth: overpopulated, smoggy, and laden with buildings as far as the eye could see.  Instead of buildings he saw the pale stalks of tall trees, and the air was crisp and fresh, not a human in sight.

The smoke now close enough to smell, Shouyou realized it wasn’t the acrid smoke of manufacturing, the likes of which he encountered regularly living in Earth’s sector 67; this smoke had an unfamiliar flavor reminiscent of the times he’d burned food in his kitchen, or on the Karasuno with… with Tobio.

Except this smelled _really_ good.

He continued forward until he reached a gap in the trees, finding a blazing pile of wood that sat deep within a ring of stones at the clearing’s center.  Gentle waves of the fire’s heat caressed his face, and he closed his eyes in relief as his stiff and tired bones relaxed.  After what he endured in captivity, and the chill breeze of midday on Luxate, the warmth of the fire was like a balm to his soul.

Even as he stood his eyelids grew droopy, the fire’s intermittent popping noises in the silence of the day-night a song to the sandman as his legs took over and carried him closer to the flames.  He sat and raised his hands to expose his fingers that were achy from his surprise martial arts skills.

Shouyou was so consumed by the comfort of the flames that he forgot his task of finding civilization; worse, he failed to notice a tent just outside the clearing.

“Hnnn?”

The sudden noise undid all the therapeutic effects of the fire, and Shouyou scrambled backwards and away from the noise as his heart shot out his chest.

“Wh-wh-what who’s there?” Shouyou rushed out, finding in his haste to get away that he lost his sheet.  With a fierce blush he reached forward and grabbed it, covering himself back up.

“Nnnn.”

A figure emerged from the treeline, just beyond which Shouyou saw the tent fashioned of those giant heart-shaped green leaves.  Though the being was humanoid with the expected head, two arms, and two legs, they were abnormally slender and tall, taller than most every human Shouyou had ever seen.  Their blue, wide eyes watched him unerringly as they continued to make humming noises that emanated from their small slit of a mouth.

Shouyou always considered himself pale, but the creature’s stark white skin was scary.  

_Oh my god, it’s Voldemort!_

_No!  Uwwahhh!  Holy shit!  An alien!_

“I-If you come any closer, I’ll kick your ass!” Shouyou yelled, holding up the personal teleporter like a weapon, clutching his sheet to his pelvis as he sat bare naked on the dirt forest bed.

The creature hummed again, shaking their head as they took more steps forward, now using one of their long creepy fingers to point at Shouyou.

“I said--no!  Stop!  STOP!”

Miraculously the creature stopped as they watched Shouyou’s panic-stricken face.  They pointed at the sides of their head where ears would be, were they human, but all Shouyou saw was flat expanse of that chalk white skin.  They shook their head.

Shouyou touched his own ears, mirroring the alien’s movements.  “Ears?  No ears?”

The alien’s eyes carefully tracked Shouyou’s movements, nodding.

“You can’t… hear.”

Those long, slender fingers then pointed from the alien’s ears to their head.

“I don’t… I don’t understand…”

_They can’t hear you, dumbass!_

Shouyou pulled his sheet higher up his chest, wracking his brain for a translation to the alien’s game of charades.  

_Wait, my brain?_

_Not with their ears, but their--_

“You’re telepathic!”  Shouyou released his sheet and raised his hands to his forehead, wiggling his fingers towards the alien in an attempt to mimic communication waves without words they wouldn’t be able to hear anyway.

The alien’s small mouth tilted and Shouyou responded with his own smile, happy to have successfully had a conversation.   _With an alien!_   _Tobio isn’t gonna believe this!_ The alien seemed to be patiently trying to communicate with him, a total stranger; Shouyou imagined the picture he made to this foreign creature, and guessed that the aliens of Luxate were a whole lot nicer than the humans of Earth.

Shouyou placed a hand on his chest.  “I’m, um, I’m Shouyou Hinata!  Err… you can’t hear me, can you?”

_Stupid!_

The alien resumed their approach and Shouyou grappled with the urge to crabwalk further away.  When he thought about his new instinct that drove him from his cell to the ship’s office, to the drawer within it that contained the teleporter, the teleporter that took him to safety--he realized those same instincts were silent in the presence of the alien.   _Silence is… good, right?_ Soon the alien knelt in the soil next to him, appraising Shouyou with those crystal blue, intelligent, _friendly_ eyes.

When the alien reached towards him again, Shouyou was grateful for the no-ears thing as an involuntary whimper escaped his throat.  His blush deepened as a ghostly finger lifted up the loose sheet just enough for the alien to look at Shouyou’s chest.

At his ugly, angry scar, bleeding anew.

The alien stood suddenly, a pale specter towering over Shouyou in the eerily dark sky of Luxate.  They pivoted to walk towards their tent, leaving Shouyou alone by the fire, feeling vulnerable and confused.  With the alien’s back turned, Shouyou was presented with an ideal opportunity for escape, but when he searched within himself once again for that instinct, for that drive to run to safety that he’d garnered in the prison, he still felt nothing.

Maybe he really _was_ safe here.

The alien returned to kneel in front of Shouyou again, lifting the sheet unceremoniously as Shouyou sputtered and covered himself up with his hands.  He flinched against the alien’s touch, watching those slender fingers grace along his infected scarring, gasping as he felt the irritation subside and the throbbing infection cool.  He watched the long, white fingers deftly trace the entire Y-shaped incision, leaving behind a thick, healing ointment in their wake.  The cold healing he felt clashed with the warm waves of the fire, and combined with the day’s excitement his shivers turned violent.

Finding a measure of trust in the alien’s perfunctory care of his injuries, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat of the flames once more, enjoyed the easing of his pain, only opening them when the alien forced something cold into his hand, pushing it up towards his mouth.

A jug.  Of water?

_Only one way to find out--_

Taking the cue, Shouyou drank the refreshing fluid down, its mouthfeel thicker than water, coating his raw throat and quickly hydrating his body.  The alien took the container from him after he quickly downed the substance,  and he began to feel a little dizzy.  As his vision fizzled out in front of  his new ally, he relied on his sense of touch; he could still feel the warmth of the fire on his skin, the cold alien picking him up and laying him down on a pallette and covering him up with a soft blanket before he lost consciousness completely.

\----

With Akaashi keeping the Karasuno in full-stealth mode, Team Suga slowly snuck up on the government accessory ship, the one Yamaguchi’s hacking revealed was hiding the four stones.  The ship that was now flanked by not one but two fighter crafts that weren’t supposed to be there.

“Alright, we proceed as planned despite their extra defenses.  Yamaguchi will hack in and sync up our on-board teleporters, just like he did when we rescued Kageyama.  Then, the Karasuno will strike with a missile, allowing me and Tetsu to board with less chance of detection.  Our job is to keep them distracted while we proceed with phase three.”

Bokuto released a disappointed huff, crossing his bandaged, out-of-commission right arm across his chest.  Kuroo next to him grabbed the back of his neck and shook him a little.  “Next one, bro.”

“Next one,” Sawamura continued, nodding at the duo.  He focused his attention next on Tobio, his eyes deadly serious.  “Kageyama, you and Kenma will board next.  You will help navigate, as we’ve discussed at length.  No one knows these ships better than you.”

Despite the hours he and Kozume spent pouring over the hacked ship maps, the implication that he knew better than Yamaguchi was still a farce; Tobio suspected Sawamura simply didn’t trust the government defector to not break his promise once back in enemy territory.

The mission was too important for a fuck-up like that.

He wasn’t entirely convinced this wasn’t all some big trap to abduct them all, either.  He looked over at Yamaguchi, taking in his earnest face, his floppy, green hair, the freckles that aged him down several years.  The man hadn’t attempted to save Shouyou back on the president’s ship, not even when Tobio had begged and pleaded at the expense of his own life.  Tobio admitted to himself that he still held a great deal of resentment towards Yamaguchi, a fact which colored his reactions to the man as much as his threadbare patience had the past week.  But… Tobio trusted Kozume.  And if Kozume trusted Yamaguchi, then…

“Tetsu and I will wait to hear from Kenma that you’re back on board.  If anything goes wrong, or if you can’t find the stones within the allotted time, abort the mission.  Get back on the ship.  Keep yourselves safe.  Even though this mission is of the utmost importance, so are your lives.  We can… try again.”

Tobio didn’t take Sawamura as an optimist.  He knew there were no second chances.  An attempt like this would bolster the government’s defense of the stones, making them virtually impossible to access ever again.

“I should go with them, Daichi, and you know it,” Sugawara interjected in a quiet but stern voice.

Sawamura’s fists clenched as he turned to look at his partner.  “We already talked about this, Suga.  I said no.  You can confirm the stones through the comm visuals--”

“We didn’t talk, Daichi, _you_ talked.  Shouyou.  Kageyama.  You.  This entire mission.  They are my life’s purpose.  They are all my responsibility.  I should be on that ship _with_ you, Daichi.”

Tobio’s eyes widened at that declaration, that Sugawara felt personally responsible for him, that he felt the need to protect him.  His fists clenched at his seat as he continued to watch their argument.

“ _No_ , Suga,” their strategist spoke through clenched teeth.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I--”

“ _NO_ ,” Daichi yelled, a powerful wave that ushered in a stunned silence.

 _So, this_ is _a suicide mission_ , Tobio thought.  He watched the standoff proceed for a few more seconds before Sawamura pulled Sugawara aside so they could speak in the pseudo-privacy of the Karasuno’s kitchenette.  Tobio cast his eyes around the room, taking in the downtrodden expressions of his teammates.   _And everyone else knows it, too._

Tobio looked at the seat Shouyou had adopted as his for their travels.  He thought of the light reflected in the young man’s wide-open eyes as they descended into the wormhole.  How he managed to escape the high security of the government, security that terrified even Yamaguchi, the president’s former right-hand hacker man.  His heart swelled thinking about his Shouyou, his brave, fearsome, silly, impulsive, ridiculous Shouyou.

_I have to live through this, if only to see him again._

All the hacking in the world never revealed where Shouyou went after escaping, and though this increased the fervor of Tobio’s pacing he reasoned that it probably meant he was safe from Tsukishima.  Tobio recalled his first memory of Shouyou; he knew even then that the skeptical young man wasn’t an idiot.   _Though he sometimes acts like one,_ he thought with a smile.  He knew they wouldn’t find Shouyou somewhere obvious like Earth or Proxima Centauri, and the Tanakas already reported he never returned to Z Ori-a, either.

_Where are you, my Shou?_

Sugawara returned, Tobio noticing his eyes were red-rimmed as he briskly walked to sit next to Tobio in Shouyou’s speed seat.  He took and held Tobio’s hand, clenching it as he looked down in his own lap.  Just a few weeks ago Tobio would have pulled away, but he guessed that crying in each other’s arms a week ago dissolved any touch barriers he’d had with the priest.

_Lots of my barriers have fallen lately, haven’t they._

“Kenma and Kageyama, the _two_ of you will board and find the stones.  Have I made myself abundantly clear?”

The group nodded, Sawamura’s eyes lingering on Sugawara before he continued.

“Once we’ve secured the stones and we are all back on the ship, we’ll get the fuck out of here and plan our search for Hinata.  Azumane, once we’ve secured the stones are we still safe to hide out underground on Proxima Centauri?”

The man rubbed his neck with the palm of his hand.  “Uh… um… yes?”

“Are you asking me or telling me, Azumane?”

“Heh, um… I’m… I’m telling… we will be safe there.  You have my word,” Man Bun finished in a small voice.

Sawamura nodded.  “Let’s make our final preparations then.  Akaashi, where are we with phase one?” he asked as he walked off, joining Akaashi at the ship’s bow.

Tobio squeezed Sugawara’s hand, whose eyes had laser-focused on Sawamura as soon as the man’s back was turned.  Before he could even think of what he wanted to say, he whispered to the man next to him.  “Um… Sugawara?”

Sugawara closed his eyes and shook his head before turning in the seat to face Tobio.  “Please, Kageyama, call me Koushi.”  He squeezed Tobio’s hand back.

“K-Koushi,” Tobio replied, wondering where his voice went.  “Th-thank you.”

“You’ve been alone for a long time, too, haven’t you?”

Tobio just looked at Suga--Koushi’s face, knowing he should answer the question but couldn’t.

Koushi smiled and pulled Tobio into a hug, whispering in his ear, “I won’t leave either of you, Kageyama.  That means tomorrow, and the next day, and years into the future--but it also means _today_.  I will be joining you and Kenma on the ship, Kageyama.  I won’t leave you to do this by yourself.”

Tobio pulled away, sputtering out some words, “B-but Sawamura said--”

Koushi placed his hands on Tobio’s cheeks, silencing him.  “We fight together, you hear me?  No matter what that oaf of a man says.”

A few tears slipped down Tobio’s face as some indescribable emotion suffused him, but Koushi still didn’t move his hands.  “Y-yes.”

When had he last felt the gentle touch of another person, save Shouyou?

Koushi smiled and turned in his seat, giving Tobio some much-needed space to compose himself.  Is this what it was like to be a part of something?  To be cared for and looked after for reasons beyond status and clout?  To have a _true_ family?  People only cared to know him for his talent at data reduction, or to use him as a human punching bag.  

Well, _most_ people.

His mind returned to Shouyou, as it was often wont to do, and wondered if he could extend his trust even further to the man sitting next to him, one of the few people to ever proclaim him as their own.

At Sawamura’s signal, the teleport group collectively changed into tactical gear, all dark shades and sleek lines.  Since Tobio’s comm had long since been decommissioned for safety reasons, Kozume outfitted him with a new device that had a secure-link to the rest of Team Suga.

“He’s coming with us,” Kozume remarked quietly, not a question.

Tobio nodded in silence anyway as they gathered near the teleport pad on the ship.  Sugawara stood by the speed seats in his ornate priest robes playing his worried hen role flawlessly, wringing his hands together and shifting his weight between his feet.  Sawamura approached the priest and hauled him close to deliver an impassioned kiss before crowding around the teleport pad with everyone else.  Koushi held his robes tightly closed as his partner walked away, an unusual shade of doubt crossing over his face.

“Let’s do this,” Sawamura spoke just as Akaashi released the distraction missile.

\----

They sat by the fire, the alien’s hand resting on his head as he rambled on.  Shouyou thought maybe the alien could pick up on some of his thoughts that way.  “And Sawamura, he’s really angry but super smart.  He and the priest are a couple.  They first got me out of the prison on Earth.”

The alien watched him speak, saying nothing, but nodding occasionally.

“And then there’s Tobio.  He’s the smartest guy I know!  He’s got blue eyes like you.”  Shouyou pointed to their eyes.  “He’s tall but not as tall as you.  He’s… he’s so angry, but deep down he’s a total softie.  You’d like him!  He’s--he’s amazing.  I, um… I wish he was here,” he finished in a quiet voice as he felt color rise to his cheeks.  He knew he was rambling, but after those long days and nights in solitary confinement with nothing but his thoughts, it was just nice to get out some words.

Even if his conversation partner couldn’t _hear_.

The alien smiled, moving their hand from Shouyou’s head to rest in the center of his chest.

“Heart…?”  Shouyou smiled back, his blush a searing heat more powerful than the fire’s embers.  “Y-yeah.”

Shouyou had woken up a few hours ago, toasty warm on a cushy leaf palette set by the fire.  His new alien pal had absconded to their tent but emerged not long after Shouyou woke.  The alien fashioned him some natural clothes all Luxate style, much better than his bloody sheet.  In the time he slept, the planet’s star had dipped lower on the horizon, the sky’s eclectic mix of blues subdued to a deep, pervasive navy.  Though it still wasn’t dark enough yet, Shouyou hoped to find a clearing without a firepit to see what Tobio had wanted him to see.

“He told me about how from Luxate you can see the Galaxy.  Can I see it?” Shouyou asked, turning to smooth out the ground in front of him.  He drew a spiral pattern in the dirt with his finger, pointing at it as he looked back up at the alien.

The alien nodded, rising from their perch on the ground and extending a hand down to Shouyou.  The lanky alien hauled him up with surprising strength then turned and kneeled in the ground, apparently granting permission for Shouyou to hitch a ride on their back.  The offer was incredibly tempting, since Shouyou was still super tired from his escape and the narcotic properties of whatever magic water the alien had him drink the night before; however, none of those ultimately made his decision.

_How many people can say they’ve taken a piggy-back ride on an alien?!  Tobio’s gonna be soooo jealous!_

Giddy with excitement, Shouyou placed his hands on the alien’s shoulders and jumped on their back, wrapping his legs around the alien’s long torso.  The alien, the tall, lumbering creature, tapped on Shouyou’s hands before bolting off at a hyper speed run through the forest.

After a startled shout escaped him at the sudden acceleration, Shouyou laughed, clutching the alien for dear life as they raced past the tall trees, their thin, beige stalks becoming a blur in Shouyou’s vision.  His universe was enlivened with the cool breeze through his dirty hair, the wonder of meeting a freaking alien, and the childish joy of going really _really_ fast.  After preparing himself to withstand the government’s torture as their prisoner, it felt good to just let go.  Eventually the alien stopped as they approached a cliff through a gap in the trees.

They let Shouyou down gently, and the two of them walked over to the ledge together.  They sat hip to hip, their legs dangling off the edge.

Unsure of how this planet worked, Shouyou trusted in the alien’s understanding of his half-assed dirt drawing and waited for the show to begin.  Luxate’s host star was close to the horizon behind them and ready to set, but its descent didn’t produce the spectacle of colors in the sky like the setting star on Z Ori-a.  They sat in comfortable silence for a time as they watched the sky melt into an eerie black.  

Also unlike Z Ori-a, no nearby stars dotted along the horizon as Luxate’s host star descended, since there weren’t any: Shouyou remembering what Tobio said about Luxate’s location being way above the flat disk shape of the Galaxy.  Shouyou smiled, suddenly fighting a craving for pancakes.  He looked to his left towards the alien but saw nothing, the darkness pervasive enough to occlude even the paperwhite skin of his new companion.

After a time the alien grunted in the darkness, grasping Shouyou’s left hand.  He felt his arm rise in front of him as a very dim light began to rise, the planet’s rotation springing forth new growth of light and imagery on the horizon.

Shouyou followed the line of their joined hands, now seeing a faint  blob, soon trailed by the Galaxy’s rising spiral arms, gentle, swirling extensions from the glowing central orb.  While the light from Luxate’s own star provided some visibility during the so-called day, the rising of the Milky Way lit the night with its diffuse blur, Shouyou’s horizon enriched by the radiation of hundreds of billions of Galactic stars too distant to pick out individually.  

Shouyou wondered if Luxate worked backwards in comparison to Earth, in that daytime only really began when Luxate’s host star set in its sky.

As the Galaxy rose higher and higher, the warm white light of the Galaxy became tinged with gentle blues and yellows and pinks, speckled with lanes of brown and black, an arrangement of stars and gas and dust all coming together to form the living concerto of his home.

As the rising Galaxy banished the deep navy of nighttime, Shouyou thought of being on Z Ori-a with Tobio.  Its different colors blending effortlessly together reminded him of how he and Tobio, two very different people from very different walks of life, came together in front of their room’s colorful mural to share their first kiss, Tobio’s hands lightly grasping his arms in the darkness, deep underground but surrounded by an entire wide-open universe of hope.  He was reminded of how his new teammates helped him and rescued him, again and again, as sure as the Galaxy’s constituents would continue to revolve about its center, slow and steady.  All their lives: his, Tobio’s, Team Suga’s, were now in sync like the spiral density waves carrying stars in and out of the Galaxy’s spiral arms, joined together in an eternal, synchronous dance.

“I miss him so much,” he whispered, feeling the tears fall down his cheeks.  He raised his arm to wipe them off, the alien turning their gaze from the Galaxy to track his movements.

The alien tilted their head, helping Shouyou wipe the tears from his face just like his mother used to do when he was a kid.  He missed Tobio, but he missed his family and his old life, too, however lonely and stark it was.  He missed not having to worry about the fate of the world, but he would never voice that aloud.  Even to someone who couldn’t hear.

_But I never would have met him, or Koushi, or Daichi, or any of them without becoming the fifth element.  I never would have teleported or gone to the Tanaka mansion or… or… seen this!_

He smiled.  “Sorry, I’m so stupid.”  He shook his head as the alien’s eyes widened, their attention no longer on his face but off to the side.  He followed the alien’s eyes with his own, twisting around behind him to see what could have possibly captured their attention more so than the Galaxy.

“What?” he asked, his speaking to the deaf alien now an unfortunate habit.

The alien took hold of his right hand, pulling it across his chest gently to peer at his wrist.  The alien traced their finger across the dots of his tattoo, suddenly looking up into Shouyou’s eyes and smiling, their earnest blue eyes crinkling at the corners.  

The alien pointed at him, then held up his opened hand.

“Hand?  Palm?  I don’t--”

The alien suddenly blew air in his face, startling Shouyou.

“Wh-hey!  What’s the big idea, you jerk--”

The alien held up one finger in his face, quickly curtailing Shouyou’s indignation.  They held their finger up for a time, blowing air from their small mouth.  The alien then continued silently, pointing up at the galaxy and raising a second finger that joined the first.  The alien’s hand then slowly returned to Shouyou’s cheek, collecting some remaining tears, raising a third finger.  They scrunched their hand in the dirt underneath them, raising up a lump of soil and letting it fall between their fingers, holding up four dirty fingers.

“Dirt…four?  Tears?  Uhhh…”

 _What the…_ _oh!_

“Wind blows… fire burns--the stars burn!  The four elements!”  Shouyou held up four fingers.

The alien nodded, holding up five fingers again, pointing to Shouyou’s wrist.

“… five… the fifth… I’m… I’m the fifth element, yes!” Shouyou nodded, also pointing to his tattoo, its red glow paltry in comparison to the rising Galaxy’s light.

The alien nodded again with more fervor, but as the alien’s smile grew, a tightness suddenly squeezed his stomach.  Between the government, the church, and Koushi, only Team Suga had had his well-being in mind.  His fingers twisted together in his lap with the realization that he’d revealed his secret to an unknown quantity, however trustworthy they seemed.

He imagined he could hear Tobio calling him a dumbass all the way from the Galaxy.

Although he sensed no danger from his situation, his super instinct had only kicked in recently; it hadn’t saved him from capture on Earth, or capture in space, or freaking _vivisection_.  He wasn’t sure if the instinct would stop him from jeopardizing the mission and the safety of the whole Earth.  A wave of nausea hit him as he wondered how many of their kind the alien already told, considering their telepathic capabilities.

The alien jumped up and started to walk away from the cliff, motioning for Shouyou to join them, bending their knees to allow Shouyou another ride on their back.

 _Was all this for_ nothing _?  Did I…_

… _did I just fail my teammates?  Are they better off without me… again?_

\----

With the successful distraction missile and teleport hack, Sawamura and Kuroo stood on the teleport platform, ready to kick off the raid to retrieve the sacred stones.  The strain on their faces echoed the tension Tobio felt on the ship, the argument between Sawamura and Koushi making the danger of this mission all too clear to anyone with a brain.  Despite the inherent dangers, not a second after the two disappeared from the platform did Koushi drop his priest robes, revealing the same tactical outfit everyone else wore.  Koushi stepped forward and synched up with a comm that Kozume handed to him without missing a beat, as if the priest joining them was a foregone conclusion.

Kozume nodded, stepping up onto the platform and signalling for Tobio and Koushi to follow.  “We wait for their all-clear.  Any moment now.”

Tobio felt his heart race, thinking back to his and Bokuto’s escape from the Earth building, and the injuries Bokuto sustained protecting him.  He looked over at the ship’s bow and met the lackey’s unusually serious eyes, intent on Tobio as if he was trying to push all his thoughts through them from clear across the room.

But he didn’t need to hear the words to grasp the sentiment shouting from Bokuto’s eyes.

“ _Bring them back, Kageyama, like you did for me.”_

Tobio held his gaze and nodded, accepting Bokuto’s trust, accepting his place with this hodgepodge group of world saviors.  Surrounded by Koushi and Kozume on the platform, Tobio knew wasn’t cold and lonely anymore, on a data rig far, far away from the denizens of Earth, distancing himself from human interaction as much as possible.  Here, he wasn’t imprisoned in a cell, helpless, wading through a sea of his own self-hatred and misery.  He wasn’t the same kid who stayed at school late to do extra math problems only to become unwitting prey for an evil man.

He wasn’t in shackles, not anymore.  He very well may be going to his death to recover a bunch of fucking rocks, but he was… part of something.  Part of a team--no, a family.  Data science teams didn’t fight for each other.  Risk their lives for each other.  He was relied upon, by Bokuto, and Kozume, and… Koushi.   _Shouyou._  He was surrounded by people he was learning to trust, people who already trusted him.

He looked down as his feet planted on the teleport platform and smiled.  He vaguely heard Kozume say it was time and he closed his eyes, letting the nothingness take over until the familiar stale smell of generic government rig overtook his senses.  The area around the platform was cleared of any threats thanks to Sawamura and Kuroo.  Kozume turned immediately down a corridor with Tobio and Koushi trailing in his very capable wake.

While the team had poured over blueprints for this model of ship in advance and knew the general layout, without seeing the interior up close and personal it was impossible to distinguish the ship’s classification.  A survey rig might have different secured rooms than a science rig, for example.  They took off down a corridor, assessing a few unlocked rooms to guess where the stones might be secreted on this particular ship.

Tobio heard Kozume’s voice over the comm, low and fast, “All reports indicate the stones will be hidden in the most secured part of the ship.  This is either the tech room or the commander’s quarters, if applicable.  What do you think, Kageyama?”

“This is a survey rig,” he whispered in reply, voice drowned out on the ship by the distant sounds of chaos but knowing all on the party line could still hear through the comm.  “And science rigs don’t have commanders.  I always thought the tech rooms were too easy to access on these things,”  he spoke as his thoughts turned to Oikawa.  He’d ordered him to check historical pulsar data in their tech room, which barely even had doors.

A sudden voice over the comm, “Incoming on your right, take cover!”

_Shit, already?_

Kozume showed no outward signs of distress when the first door he tried was locked; he quickly disabled the mechanism and ushered Koushi and Tobio inside.

“Hey!  Just who the fuck are--”

Koushi burst in and without batting an eye, he knocked the startled techie’s lights out with a right hook; Tobio’s eyes widened at the loud smack of the impact.   _Glad this nice son of a bitch is on_ my _side._ They shut the door and waited quietly, listening as a series of muffled footsteps rushed past.

Kozume projected the ship map on the wall, whispering, “There are several interior rooms that have enough security to be the commander’s quarters.  What do you--”

“There,” Tobio interrupted, pointing on the map to a little unmarked box slightly offset from the ship’s bow.  “Closest to central command.  No way the ship commander would set up shop anywhere else.”

 _They’re all lazy as sin,_ Tobio thought, remembering General Ukai’s frustration at being made to lumber around his own ship.

Tobio and Koushi looked over Kozume’s shoulders to work out a path of least resistance to that small, unmarked box on the map.  Unfortunately for Team Suga, Tobio knew that most survey rigs mitigated their overall lackluster security with stern-side teleport platforms; teleporting intruders would have to navigate through the entire ship’s length to reach central command.  As it stood, they were as far as possible from their destination, if that was indeed where the stones were secured.

_Fuck._

Sweat dampened the back of Tobio’s tactical shirt as his eyes followed their circuitous path on the map.  Tobio knew they would encounter enemies along the way, enemies they would have to dispatch in order to reach the stones.

His shaking hand reached for the gun on his belt.

It was Bokuto’s gun, a device that shot out deadly electrical currents like a long-ranged, suped-up tazer.  The so-called lackey had taught him how to use it during their re-grouping week, time Yamaguchi and Kozume spent searching for the stones.  It had been the first time he’d ever practiced with or even held any type of serious weapon.  He armed the device as he was taught, a small light coming on to indicate it was armed and its charge, but was otherwise silent, a deceivingly quiet device all things considered.  When Bokuto offered him training, he devoted himself to learning the ins and outs of electrical firing almost clinically, the eventuality of actually using the gun on a living, breathing person never quite hitting him.

He was never a fan of the human race as a whole but as he looked down at the weapon, he just wanted to be left alone.  He never wanted to hurt anyone.  

_Well, maybe Oikawa._

He closed his eyes and shivered, the smell of all those electrified bodies in the Earth building a dark stain on his brain, a memory that now felt centuries old.

He watched Koushi activate a similar pistol with practiced ease, hands steady and eyes intent.  Their eyes met and Koushi nodded, a resolved air about him that Tobio struggled to match.  Koushi must have read something in his expression because he stepped into Tobio’s personal space and placed a warm hand on the back of his neck.

“You can do this.   _We_ can do this.  For Shouyou, remember?  And, uh…”  With a small laugh, Koushi gently removed Bokuto’s gun from Tobio’s shaking hands.  “No one needs to die today.”

Tobio watched as Koushi opened a bracket on the gun to slide down an intensity dial that Bokuto had neglected to show him.  “This will knock someone out long enough for us to complete our mission without killing them,” he finished.

 _Bokuto, you fuckstick,_ he thought, taking the gun back from Koushi with a huff, his hands now steady.

Koushi opened the door and peeked out down the long hallway, turning back to nod.  The trio departed from their hiding place to reach the commander’s quarters, finding a stride that allowed them to move as fast as possible without making too much noise.  Kozume’s feet occasionally lost their rhythm as he devoted his all to monitoring the EM-space.

A ricochet clanged at the wall near his head and Tobio ducked, startled at the sound of the shot that had already missed his mark.  He quickly turned to aim the electric pistol, a tentative confidence suffusing his actions.   _I’m coming, Shouyou._ The thing had virtually no recoil as he fired, and the combatant hit the ground with a heavy thud.

_Whoa._

He stood in shock but shook his head, running to catch up.  They continued on, the trio making it nearly halfway to the commander’s quarters before encountering any more ship guards despite the crescendo of nearby chaos, proof that Sawamura and Kuroo were expert pains in the ass.   _If only Bokuto was here, the whole ship would be empty._  Adrenaline sang through Tobio as they hurried along, the percussive beat of his blood flow and the whoosh of his breaths masking the sounds of Koushi’s firearm, murmurs of status updates from his comrades his ear, shouts from the enemy, and booms in the distance: the stimuli a cacophony he presumed would come to a peak at the commander’s office.

Suddenly a door on Tobio’s right opened and an unsuspecting technician shot out, slamming into Kozume and knocking him to the opposing wall with a crunch that made Tobio cringe.  Koushi pistol whipped the disoriented techie, but no amount of offense could bring Kozume back to consciousness.

“ _Shit,_ Kenma is out and we’re still about 40 meters from our target location,” Koushi barked over the comm as he stepped over the techie to help Tobio support Kozume against the wall.

“Kenma?!  Is he--”

“K-Koushi!  What the _FUCK_ are you doing here?” Sawamura yelled his interruption over the comm.

“Mm, can we talk about this a smidge later, Daichi?”

A boom blasted in the distance, making the lights all over the ship flicker and the ship shake in the vastness of space.  “We’ll backtrack to meet you guys, but keep going if you can!  It should be pretty clear!” Kuroo replied, his wavering voice pitched higher than normal.  

Tobio took on the full burden of Kozume’s weight, indicating with a nod that Koushi should act as unhindered defense as they continued on.  While Kozume was a shrimp like Shouyou, deadweight was deadweight and Tobio struggled down the corridor.  He turned around to adjust his grip, dragging Kozume instead by his arms as he awkwardly shuffled backwards, the hacker’s feet catching and dragging behind on the buffed linoleum.

_Sorry, sorry, sorry--_

It was then that Tobio realized something.   _Fuck._  “Yamaguchi, we’re flying blind here, what do you see?”

He heard a fuzzy voice over the comm, “I’ve been trying, but they blocked me!  I-I don’t know what they can see!  I’m sorry!”

_The fuck am I gonna do with “sorry”, asshole?_

He heard a gasp over the comm.   _Did I say that out loud?_  His comment must have broken some sort of politeness seal, as Tobio could hear those left on the ship begin to argue; Akaashi and Bokuto wanted to go in, all the while Yamaguchi voiced his concerns with a stutter but was summarily ignored.  Azumane had just started to speak when Tobio’s comm beeped out and went silent before he could hear Man Bun’s words.

“Koushi, are you getting anything over the comm?”

The priest glanced down at his awkward Kozume-dragging crouch, fear making its first appearance on his face.  “I… no.  What does that mean?” he shouted.

“I think we’re fu--”

“Oh thank _god_ ,” Koushi sighed as he spotted the duo approaching in their wake.  Sawamura quickly moved in front of Koushi to help keep guard while Kuroo hauled up Kozume in an effortless fireman’s carry.

“Go, _GO!_ ” Kuroo yelled.  Tobio overcame his shock with a shake of his head, both at Kuroo’s strength and his haggard condition, dirty and sweaty and leaving blood trails on the shiny floor.

Abandoning all pretense of sneaking around, the group hustled down the corridor; however, with their distractions abandoned and their hacker unconscious, Tobio feared that the ship’s command would be able to quickly mobilize to stop them.  

His worries manifested not minutes after they rounded the final corner to the commander’s quarters.  An involuntary whimper escaped him at the sight before them: a veritable legion of armored government guards stood in front of the door, their weapons trained and at the ready.

“STOP!”

Team Suga obeyed the bark of the soldier, their feet squeaking on the flooring.  Tobio felt the blood drain from his face.

An unseen man from deep within the cluster of guards shouted, “Where is Tobio Kageyama?  We will let you all leave with your lives in exchange for him!”

Tobio imagined a hole opening in the floor to swallow his plummeting stomach.

Though he just started to feel a part of the team--family, he knew that when push came to shove, compared to everyone else, he was the most expendable.  He couldn’t escape dangerous situations or slay their enemies or hack unseen into the most secure servers known to humans on his own.  The ritual to save the world didn’t need him.

_Did anybody?_

Not to mention, he was the rookie here; his fellow… teammates had stronger ties binding them together.  Tobio was basically an outsider.

_What else is new?_

He may be a coward, and useless, but he could do this one thing: if it meant they could escape with their lives, he’d let them have him.  If it kept Tsukishima’s attention off of the disappearing Shouyou, if it meant they all could live and have a fighting chance at destroying the evil… it was worth it.   _He_ was worth it.

He sucked in a rattling breath and was about to respond when he noticed movement in his peripheral vision; he watched Koushi sneak an arm behind himself, pushing his palm towards the floor, a universal signal to shut the fuck up.

He watched Sawamura next to him do the same.

_They…_

“Why?” Koushi asked the guard, false bravado firmly in place.

“He has been charged with treason and has been sentenced to die by airlock.  The rest of you we will take into custody and await the president’s orders, but he has assured your safety so long as you cooperate. ”

He imagined a painful airlock death: no air, no sound, alone, his blood vessels expanding, the blood within them boiling in the near-nothing pressure of space.

“You--you sentenced Kageyama without a trial--”

A shot rang out, lancing through Koushi and taking him down to the floor.  

_Oh god--_

“ _KOUSHI!_ ” Sawamura yelled as the group took a defensive step forward but stopped when the guard that shot Koushi trained his gun on Sawamura.

“I wouldn’t,” the guard said savagely.

Sawamura rose to his full height, Tobio noticing that his clenched fists were shaking and his chest was heaving.  “Before this is all over, I will kill you,” he gritted out, his eyes glued to their mark.

The guard swallowed.  “L-let’s try that again, shall we?  Where is Tobio Kageyama?”

_I can’t let anyone else--_

“I-I’m T--”

A boom interrupted Tobio, one that violently rattled the ship.  They were all flung about, many of them hitting the walls, the ground, even the ceiling hard.  Tobio landed on his left shoulder with a loud crunch.  His heart raced but he felt no pain as he watched the few that weren’t knocked unconscious by the blast abandon the armistice and open fire on Team Suga, everyone dodging in time except Tobio and his shit reflexes.  He felt before he heard a charge strike his right shoulder, and he screamed before rolling on the ground.

Sawamura fired back from his protective perch in front of Koushi on the floor, who still hadn’t woken, nailing one guard after the other until they were all silenced, either unconscious or dead.

The corridor was eerily quiet when the lights flickered and turned off.  Back-up neutrino pods kicked into action, filling the hallway with an eerie blue that thrust the faces of their incapacitated enemy into sharp shadows, but Tobio looked on impassively, shivering on the unsteady ship floor.

The more he tried to focus, the more nauseous he became, the pain grabbing hold of his consciousness and steering him every which way.  He felt the cold floor in front of him with his hands as he instinctively began dragging himself towards a mess of unmoving, silvery gray hair--

Just then Kuroo appeared in his vision, the man slapping at his face and dissipating some of the pain-fog.  He yelled something that Tobio couldn’t hear, but Tobio managed to rise with his help and amble along after him anyway, the smell of electrified human bodies and smoke making him pause to hurl up what little was in his stomach.

They’d rounded a corner when another less potent boom shook the fuselage, and Tobio was knocked over again.  He struggled with logical reasoning, wrought of the concussive blast and the burning pain in his shoulder: but… they were supposed to go back, to get the stones, not run away?  Why were they running away?  Even as they moved further and further from the commander’s quarters, Kuroo was egging him forward, Kozume still unconscious on his back.  He trusted Kuroo, right?

_Right....?_

He thought he did, but if they failed here, all the agony Shouyou had gone through would have been in vain.  Koushi would have been shot for nothing.  He couldn’t… fail everyone.  He made a promise to Bokuto.  He couldn’t fail Shouyou.

 _Again_.

He deserved better.  Shouyou couldn’t go around kissing a fucking loser, could he?  He had to step up as a member of the family.  That’s what he was supposed to do, right?  He wasn’t sure.  What were families supposed to do?  But he knew that here, where it mattered and where he was needed most, he’d be strong instead of weak.  For himself.  For Shouyou.

_For once in my life._

He took a deep breath and bolted, ignoring the shouts of Sawamura and Kuroo behind him as he retraced his steps back to the pile of guards at a run.  As he devoted his focus to pushing his legs to move ever faster, the pain in both shoulders was held at bay, air coming quickly to his lungs and honing his vision.

In the blue din he found and picked up an electric pistol along the way, arming it on autopilot.  He neared the last corner at a sprint, his gun slashing through the air with the beat of his throbbing arms.  Sawamura may have said they had a second shot at this, but Tobio knew differently.

This was it.

He rounded the corner back to the commander’s quarters and found most of the guards still down and out, a grotesque scattering of twisted bodies around the door.  He tried to quiet his breathing to avoid drawing attention to himself, but it still sounded so loud to his own ears, his feet tip-toeing over the bodies of people that would kill him without a second thought.  People that had already _tried_.

He held up the pistol with shaking hands, closing in on the door, and he wondered why there was black fluid dripping down his right arm when a tall man came into view down the hallway.  The figure was a dark ghost in the hazy smoke of the hall, their footsteps loud and slapping on the ground as they came towards the commander’s quarters from the opposite direction.  He tried opening the door but it was locked; Tobio grit his teeth and stood his ground, waiting for an attack that never came.

The man clambered over the bodies, and only when a few meters away did Tobio realize who it was.

“Bo-Bokuto!”

“Time to return the favor, grumpypants!  You like those bombs?  That was all me, baby!  In there, right?” he asked, tilting his head towards the door.

Right arm still in a sling, Bokuto pushed Tobio aside with his left hand and rendered the door’s lock useless with a quick electrifying shot from his pistol.  They stumbled inside, nearly tripping over the books and trinkets that had been dislodged from their shelves.  Despite his questionable safety, Tobio still smirked to himself at finding the perfectly made bed intact: not even a bomb could disrupt the tightly tucked sheets of a military commander.

But one of the trinkets on the floor was not like the others.  In the corner, Tobio spotted an ancient-looking box that was strewn about with the modern books and tarnishing military awards, practically screaming its other-worldliness.

“There!” Tobio yelled, tripping over his own feet to get to the box.  He kneeled in front and opened it, seeing three stones inside.  “Three?  Why are there only--do you have a pack or something?”

Bokuto nodded, but before pilfering the stones from their velvet-lined case, he removed four similar-looking objects from his pack.

“Wh-what are those?”

Bokuto smirked as he switched the stones, removing the three genuine artifacts and replacing them with the replicas.  “Sawamura’s plan sounded good and all, but since this is about saving the whole fucking Earth, Akaashi and I did a little background scheming.”

_Decoys?_

“Well?  What’s the plan?” Tobio asked, though he had an educated guess.

After a moment of silence Bokuto just nodded to himself, seemingly ignoring Tobio’s question and mumbling,  “Well, it was mostly Akaashi’s idea, and Suga helped, but--”

“Bokuto!”

“Uh, right.  Since there’s only a handful of people who actually know what the real stones look like, Suga included, we made fakes!  Once we’re gone, they’ll open the case and think they have the real thing, but… _sike!_  Suck it, Shittyshima!”

Tobio had to admit, it was a good fucking idea.  He smoothed his fingers over the fakes, thinking that if he hadn’t known any better, he’d have thought they were real, too.

A glimmer of a thought popped into his head, one he was unable to finish or voice aloud before a series of shots rang out behind them, turning everything in Tobio’s vision black:

_What if the real ones aren’t actually--_

\----

The first thing he felt was the weight of his head, hanging heavily on his crooked and achy neck.  Soon the throbbing between his shoulders, the throbbing _of_ his shoulders, the burn of where he must’ve been shot rushed to his consciousness: all of them an assault on his senses and he gasped at the pain with a shaky inhalation.

“Ohhh, looks like someone is awake!  Good morning!”

Tobio pried his eyes open just before he was thrown to the floor next to Bokuto, the man’s rising and falling chest his only movement.  He looked around, finding the lights above him to be too bright; he tried to shield his eyes with a forearm but neither of them worked, and he moaned miserably at the failed effort.  He let his head fall to the side to where he thought he’d heard the voice, the voice he recognized and never wanted to hear again.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt for much longer!”

But the owner of the voice wasn’t alone.  Next to Oikawa stood a man with short-cropped blonde hair, styled with a ring of black that wrapped around his head.  Though weird, the hairstyle was the least of Tobio’s concerns: the man’s eyes were fierce, angry and unforgiving, as they moved over the forms of Tobio and Bokuto.

The two men-- _enemies_ \--stood just outside the doorway.  After a quick glance around the room, Tobio grew cold at the realization of where the doorway lead.  Where he and Bokuto actually were.

It was no room at all.  It was an airlock compartment.

“Wh-what the fuck are you doing, Oikawa?”

“You are a traitor, and traitors get what they deserve.”

He tried to stand, he tried to pull Bokuto with him towards the menacing men, towards their sinister eyes and out of the compartment, but he barely made it a meter in his desperate scrambling before Oikawa signaled his comrade.

“Bye bye now, Tobio.”  He turned towards the blonde man.  “Do it, Mad Dog.”

“Don’t do this, Oikawa!   _OIKAWA!  WE’LL DIE!_ ”

Oikawa smirked.  “That’s the point.”

The blonde man slapped his hand on a panel, sealing the door shut.  The door between Tobio, Bokuto, and their very lives, closed off, and there was nothing he could do.  He was helpless.  He’d failed them all, he’d failed Akaashi--Bokuto would die with him.  Tobio looked on at Oikawa in horror through the gateway window, the man’s expression cruel even as Tobio’s demise was all but assured.

_Even if he hates me… how could he…_

Tears slipped down his face as he yelled, screamed, gripping and tugging at Bokuto’s limp arm when suddenly there were no other sounds but the compartment’s deafening air whooshing past, blowing his hair and sucking the moisture from his eyes as it sped towards the now open gateway door behind them, rushing towards the vacuum.  Helpless, Tobio and Bokuto were soon forced out of the airlock, Tobio’s screams unheard to his own ears, his tears vaporizing on his cheeks.

The pain ripped him to shreds, unlike anything he’d ever felt before as he clutched Bokuto close to him, the last thoughts on his mind were of the bright swirls of the Milky Way as seen from his favorite planet.   He registered a warm, red glow on his face before it all turned to darkness.

_Shouyou… I’m sorry… you’ll have to see it… without me…_

\----

The alien carried him deep into the woods, far from both the cliff and the campsite if Shouyou’s shoddy sense of direction rang true for a change.  Though Shouyou’s eyesight improved what with the rising Galactic light, it was still difficult for him to see the forest floor and he felt grateful that the alien race on this dark planet must have adapted to see in such conditions.

Shouyou felt no thrill at their fast pace, the kid fun of it gone as he ruminated over his flippant decision to trust the alien.  He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed the alien slow to enter a clearing, the grassy expanse covered with a series of heart leaf tents.  The dwellings were centralized about a massive bonfire, immediately around which split logs appeared to glow as they basked in its pulsating light.  The alien stopped in front of it to set Shouyou down, nodding towards one of the logs.  They held up four fingers then bolted, leaving Shouyou alone in the clearing.

Well, in a manner of speaking.

Shouyou turned, finding other aliens emerge from their tents, eyeing Shouyou and his native garb suspiciously.  He hugged his arms to his chest, turning in a full circle, their eyes creeping all over his skin like spiders.  Though the sky was much lighter than before, the already chilly planet cooled further and Shouyou shivered.

He wondered what all the aliens were saying to each other about him at frequencies he was not equipped to hear.

_Not fair!_

He whimpered, sitting down near the fire and closing his eyes, hoping they’d all get bored of him and go about their usual business, hoping that his alien friend would return even though their trustworthiness was still undecided.   _Right._  He sat for a while, unsure of the passing of time, falling into a similar headspace that he adopted in the government prison as he rocked back and forth on the log.

_I can do this… I can do this… whatever they throw at me… I can do this…_

A grunt broke the spell after a time, and Shouyou looked up to see his alien compatriot standing in front of him.  The alien looked down to draw Shouyou’s attention at something they were holding; they held it with care, almost as they would an infant, cradling the swathed bundle.  The alien looked up again and pushed the bundle forward towards Shouyou.

Shouyou raised his arms uncertainly, bringing them forward to take whatever the alien proffered.  With the experienced care of a waiter carrying a heavy plate full of breakable dishes, he gently took the item, feeling from within the cloth a hardened object, something that was heavy and sculpted into the shape of a triangular prism.

He placed the bundle in his lap, parting its protective cloth to reveal an old-looking brown stone, its surfaced marred with divots and pocks and discolored in some places.  On one end, he saw a series of parallel lines, the creases of the design laden with grit and grime.  He looked at the simple lined pattern, sensing it was something important but couldn’t figure out why.

Then, the alien tapped his tattoo, holding up four fingers again.

Shouyou inspected his tattoo, then the carved lines on the stone, his eyes comically bouncing back and forth between the two.  

 _Tobio probably would have figured it out already_ , he thought, noting the similarity between one segment of his tattoo and the rock.

The rock...

“Oh my god, it’s one of the stones!” he shouted to the aliens.  “Where are the others?  Do you have the others?”

His alien companion kneeled next to him again, placing a hand on top of Shouyou’s head.  

“The other… the other stones?  Four?” Shouyou held up four fingers.

The alien picked up the stone-swaddling cloth Shouyou had discarded.  They held up the paper, but all Shouyou recognized were the symbols for each stone, the same symbols that were emblazoned and fiery red on his wrist.

“A… a map?”

The alien nodded, ruffling his hair a little bit.

“Can we… can we go get them?”

The alien smiled, holding up a finger as they bolted off again, leaving Shouyou by the fire.  He looked down at the alleged map he held in his hands, smiling that they’d soon have everything they needed for the ritual.

He just needed to find a way to tell his friends.

They returned with an entourage comprised of their own ilk, the lot of them carrying cloth bags and long, thick sticks.  His companion stepped forward and turned, kneeling once again in the dirt, and Shouyou jumped on their back without hesitation.  He had no idea where they were going, or what they’d find when they got there, but he knew every step they took would bring him one step closer to Tobio.

\----

Tobio woke suddenly, his eyes shooting open, but all he saw was nothing: black, black like the absence of light, like the emptiness of space…

He screamed and thrashed, knowing it would be the end soon, that the pain would only get worse and he’d die out here cold and alone, just as he’d lived.

Then, he registered hands pushing at his shoulders, pushing him into a soft cushion, voices shushing him, warmth next to him.  

It took a moment for his laggy brain to connect the dots and realize he could hear, when he shouldn’t… not in the vacuum of space.  He could hear his own screams petering out, he could hear voices he recognized, ones he most certainly wanted to hear again.

Something removed the darkness--a mask, it was a mask--and he saw Sugawara, no… Koushi, sitting at his bedside, red-rimmed eyes focused intently on his face.  His face was covered in bandages, his torso so wrapped he was practically mummified.  Other blobs he presumed were people surrounded the bed, but all he could focus on was Koushi.

And the man looked like shit.

“B-Bokuto?” he asked quietly.

Koushi sniffled.  “He’s, um… he’s still in critical condition.  You’ve both been out over a week, Tobio.”

_How many weeks will we lose to my failures?_

“The airlock…”

Koushi nodded.  “We got to you right away.  We could target and teleport you both inside the Karasuno, but only because you were holding onto him so tightly, Tobio.  We might’ve…”

Then Akaashi was next to him on the other side of the bed, the depression he created rolling Tobio slightly towards the man which only made it easier for him to wrap Tobio in an awkward, hospital bed hug.  Tobio grimaced in pain but tolerated the touch; the man didn’t say anything, but Tobio understood.

They’d been less than a hairsbreadth away from dying, and if separated, they could have easily been shot out with much greater acceleration and been much more difficult to locate.  Globbed together as they were, they remained much closer to the offending government ship.

_Physics is a bitch._

As quickly as he swooped in Akaashi left the room, leaving Tobio alone with Koushi, and…

Kuroo.

“Kozume?” he asked, his voice still raspy.

“He’s okay,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Everyone…?”

“We’re all alive, Kageyama.”

If they were all alive, and they had the stones, what was the fucking problem?  Tobio somehow remembered Bokuto’s intact backpack, the one in which he’d stashed the stones.  Tobio turned his head with great effort, focusing his attention back on Koushi.  The creaks in his neck told him it wanted to take six months’ leave with full pay.  “What’s… what’s wrong?”

Tears rolled down Koushi’s cheeks and Tobio felt his tired eyes widening in response.  “The stones, the stones in Kou’s bag, they… they weren’t genuine, Tobio.  You risked your life, we all risked our lives… for _nothing_.”  The floodgates opened and Koushi’s hysterical speech only increased in fervor until he was uncontrollably sobbing.  “W-we don’t have the st-stones, we… don’t… have Sh-Sh-Shouyou, a-and… a-nd--”

“It’s back,” Kozume said from the doorway.

_Of fucking course it is._

“How long?” Tobio asked.

“100 hours or so.  It… grew.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” his words much more venomous than his voice.

“With the speed and mass it obtained, it will generate enough explosive power when it strikes Earth to wipe out the entire Orion Spur where humans have made over ninety five percent of our colonies.  It’s not just the Earth on the line, not anymore.  It’s the entire human race.”

Koushi smirked at the news as he roughly wiped at his eyes, and Tobio recognized all too well the image of self-deprecation that transfigured his face.  “I failed, I failed us… and we’ll all die because of my incompetence.  And we still haven’t found even an inkling as to where Shouyou could be!”

Tobio closed his eyes, fighting the tears.  He’d thought he was going to die; his one last regret was not seeing his Shouyou again, not seeing that smile, hearing that laugh, tasting his lips… not being there to take him to his favorite--

His body shook with peals of sudden laughter.

“K-Koushi, Kozume…” he stuttered, unable to hide the smile practically splitting his face in two.  “I know where the little shrimp is.”


	10. Multi-Pass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama and Team Suga begin their search for Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long... life happens, as do writing dry spells :( But I really like this chapter, so please enjoy!!!

“So… where exactly would one um, teleport… to…. if they were to key in Luxate, from a, uh… personal teleporter?”

“You _are_ referring to Hinata, right?”

“Um.  R-right.”  Tobio may have found a new family in Team Suga, but that didn’t automatically come with a working set of social skills.

Akaashi considered the question a little distractedly as he made initial preparations for wormhole travel.  When Tobio had suggested that Shouyou somehow relocated himself to Luxate with a filched personal teleporter, the team’s ready acceptance of his outlandish theory told him either one of two things.

They either trusted his judgement implicitly, the thought of which made him lose his words even worse than before.  

Or, they were so royally fucked that literally any idea seemed like a good one.

“Most likely it’d be the part of Luxate facing the teleporter at the time.  Though we can predict how and when Luxate rotates, we still don’t know exactly when Hinata ‘ported himself off the ship.”

“So…”

“He could be anywhere by now.  It’s been a week since he escaped, after all.”

Tobio frowned, a new worry picking at his gut like a starved crow.  Shouyou may have escaped the clutches of the government, but most of Luxate was--

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Akaashi reassured him with his usual dull voice.

_Right._

Though the new plan of action infused the mood of the ship with some optimism, Tobio still sensed a thick, viscous tension that hadn’t abated since his waking.  Even if they found Shouyou on Luxate, the real stones were still missing and the evil had finally returned more deadly and dangerous than before.  To make matters worse, Sugawara had effectively disappeared after Tobio woke up from his prolonged unconsciousness.  According to Sawamura, Koushi was _tired_.

Tobio knew better.  He could barely get out of bed when a data assignment of his failed.

_Fuck._

He recognized that larger forces were at work, that the President was under some kind of exogenous, insidious influence hell bent on seeing to the Earth’s--humanity’s--destruction.  Prior to the upheaval of his once self-isolating and boring life, he might have cared, in the obligatory, salaryman sense.  

But things changed for Tobio when a bubbly, orange-haired angel landed himself in the crosshairs.

Tobio paced up and down the center ship aisle as final preparations were made.  The concussed but functional Kozume located a wormhole to cut the travel time in half-- _I’m fine, Tetsu, this is brainless--_ while Akaashi poked at prodded at his ship to enable them to warp speed the remaining distance.  Even with the shortcuts Tobio could barely sit still, feeling so antsy and itchy and _hot_ that he took off his track jacket before strapping himself into his speed seat some time later.

He huffed out a breath as Sawamura gave the safety know-how speech he’d heard a million times before.  The words were the same but somehow sounded wrong, what with their usual owlish orator still recovering from his extensive injuries.

“Alright, let’s go get our boy,” Sawamura finished up, his words directed at Koushi as encouragement, the priest checked out and staring off into some unseen abyss.

With every heartbeat and blink of an eye taking them closer and closer to Luxate, Tobio found he couldn’t pay attention to the kaleidoscope of colors and shapes as they bent around their wormhole  gateway.  The reflections of light painting the cabin only made him fidget in anticipation of seeing Shouyou again; he wasn’t a fucking _fidgeter_.  He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, his leg bouncing erratically, praying to the ether or the fabric of spacetime or _whatever the fuck_ that they could get to Luxate and find Shouyou in one piece.

After several hours that felt like for-fucking-ever, Tobio leaned into his speed seat straps as the familiar sight of Luxate filled the ship’s semi-opaque pilot window.  The sight of it jump-started the sluggish passage of time and before Tobio knew it, they’d received clearance to land and Akaashi had docked the Karasuno among hundreds of other ships at the Luxate terminal.  Tobio’s fidgeting turned into full-blown pacing, his feet carving a path around the teleport pad, his heart making a college try at clawing its way out of his chest.  

It had been a while since his last visit to the planet, but after deplaning and traversing the docking corridor, the sight of the extra-wide, marbled corridors and the eclectic mix of Galactic species wandering about the terminal hub reminded Tobio of how this place felt more like home than any place on Earth.  What with its unique position far outside the disk of the Galaxy, Luxate served as a human immigration office of sorts for extragalactic visitors and migrants, which meant that the planet had all the usual human creature comforts (like plush king-sized beds), just without all the damn humans.  Maybe they could stay here awhile after finding Shouyou; a flush bloomed on his face as memories of sharing a bed with Shouyou flooded to the forefront of his consciousness.

As they walked through the terminal, short Akaashi and Bokuto who remained behind to watch over the ship, Tobio took in the mix of buzzing and rumbling sounds that seemed to come from every direction.  Voices of aliens and humans alike blended into a discordant cacophony reaching high up into the marbled rafters where numerous windows peeked out into the perpetual twilight of Luxate.

“Alright, Kageyama, this was your bright idea… how in the shit do we find him now?” Kuroo asked, suspiciously eyeing an orange, globby looking creature as it left a trail of slime in its wake.

“We should ask the immigration office if they’ve seen him.”

“Lead the way, kid.”

_You’re only a couple of years older than me, jackass._

The group followed Tobio to the immigration office where he was informed that no errant humans with bright orange hair had been running around the hub for the past week.  Tobio figured it was _Shouyou_ , afterall; he would be literally impossible to miss.

_Or is it only me that can’t keep his eyes off him?_

Tobio swallowed and turned to face the group.

“Shouyou isn’t here.  We… have to find a Luxan.”

“Oh ya?” Kuroo questioned, who earned a narrow-eyed glower from at-his-wit’s-end Koushi.

“They are native to Luxate and communicate telepathically.  We can find out if any of the locals have seen Shouyou without needing to travel to each of their hundreds of colonies.”

Kuroo smiled, clearly immune to pious glares.  “Easy enough.  Lead the way, boy scout.”

 _Is this how Shouyou feels literally all the time?_ Tobio sighed.  “It’s nighttime now, so the terminal is shut down.  We can’t get out until morning, because of, um.  There’s… another problem.”

“But the star is up?” Kuroo asked, craning his neck to peek through the windows.

“It’s backwards here,” Kozume intoned next to him.

“Huh?”

“When the star is set, it’s considered daytime--”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Ken--”

“Could you please shut up so Kageyama can get to the point?” Koushi bit out so viciously that even Sawamura looked shocked.

Tobio worried if he delivered more bad news, Koushi’s eyebrows would get stuck that way, all scrunched up on his face.  He cleared his throat before continuing, “Luxans are… very dangerous.  Territorial.  Relations are tense between the travel hub and their communities, so we probably won’t find one here.  If we wander out there on our own, we might get killed.  If they learn that Shouyou is out there, they might… hunt him down.”

While Koushi rested his head in his hands, Sawamura and Kuroo parted their jackets to reveal their holstered guns in an almost comical unison.  “How bad could they be?”

\----

Shouyou smiled weakly as an enormous leaf laden with cooked meats of animals hunted only hours prior was placed in front of him by his alien friend.  Tobio was _totally_ wrong about the food here.  “Oh, thank you,” Shouyou said, receiving a gentle nod and smile in response before they turned to sit on an adjacent palette.

Shouyou and his alien’s cohort had been at it for days, travelling at rapid speeds across the surface of Luxate, but Shouyou didn’t care.  If each step brought them closer to the remaining stones, any amount of travel was worth it.

… _Right?_

And today, finally, Shouyou figured out where they were going: he could see a stout human-made building off into the distance, close enough for him to hear it bustling with the comings and goings of various spaceships, not unlike the busy building rooftops on Earth.

_If the remaining stones aren’t on Luxate, maybe we’re gonna charter a plane?_

Satiated, he placed a hand on his full belly and leaned back, watching his alien companion spar with another.  Despite observing them practice every night, his eyes still had difficulty tracking the lightning-fast movement of their arms, their camp clearing filled with the sounds of limbs smacking and intermittent pops from the campfire.  The first night he’d observed in shock, having not considered how lethal his alien friend could be.  Now his once wide eyes only felt heavy, but he fought tooth and nail to keep them open.

Soon they would all retire to their makeshift tents, and though he was exhausted, the thought of tucking himself away all alone had a cold sweat permeating his skin.

Sleep meant flashes of those green scrubs and visions of the black gunk on the president’s forehead.  Sleep meant being strapped to a cold table, needles in his neck, needles in his arms.  Sleep meant his inevitable waking, screaming, the burn of the hazy dream scalpel just as strong as the real thing, but the deaf aliens hadn’t heard his suffering.  He was surrounded by life but somehow still all alone, and too embarrassed to go wake up his alien friend for some company.

_I miss you so much, Tobio…_

The successive nights of poor sleep took their toll and worsened the nightmares, and now he barely even had the energy to fidget when he normally couldn’t help it.  He’d found intermittent, restless sleep when plastered to the alien’s back, travelling across the planet’s surface at enormous speeds; the enchanting specter of the Galaxy high up in the sky held no interest against the chasm of his fatigue.

The novelty of piggy-backing the alien had _definitely_ worn off.

Sure enough, the aliens started turning in and he assured his friend with a nod that he’d be following them all to his own tent soon enough.

_Liar!  To blave!_

Once alone by the fire in the darkened, hazy so-called night, his thoughts about his role as the fifth element limped along, hamstrung by all he’d been through the past few weeks.  He felt ripped apart by confusion; these aliens, these veritable strangers, had shown him every kindness and compassion, keeping him comfortable and well fed while asking for nothing in return.  His companion showed him the Galaxy and healed his wounds when he first arrived on Luxate, no questions asked.

_How many humans on Earth would have done the same thing?_

He felt his limping thoughts trod down what was now becoming a familiar path, worsened by the pain and anguish he’d been dealt at the hands of government peons and President Tsukishima.  The memories of his most recent human interactions haunted him and soured his insides.  

 _Are any of them worth saving?  Why should I go through this for_ them _?_

He thought about Priest Yaku and his minions; were they worth it?

He shook his head as an even worse thought wormed its way through.  He tried to stop it from returning but it forced its way in, busting through the flimsy barriers of his weakened psyche: if his new team was safe on the Karasuno when the evil struck, what was the point of the ritual?

_No!  There are good humans!  There are--_

He gasped at the darkness of the thought, confused and alone, squirming on the damp, cold ground.  He wanted to believe Earth was worth saving, but he couldn’t forget what he’d experienced first-hand.  He’d had so many good experiences as a kid, and though his life in the foodservice industry was lonely, it wasn’t all bad.  His body shivered feverishly, the tide turning over and over again in his mind.

But there were some terrible people out there, people not worth his trouble.  People that tried to _kill_ him.  All the guards, all those surgeons.  Oikawa.

His volleyball team that had left him, abandoned him.

Yet… there was Koushi.  Kenma.  Bokuto.   _Tobio._

 _Let’s go to Luxate now and forget about all of this_.

He wrapped his arms around himself and rocked back and forth, the tears searing as they blazed down his cheeks.

\----

They’d returned to spend the night on the ship, Tobio not catching much sleep down in his chilly below-deck compartment.  Though they’d stayed up late to concoct their plan to find Shouyou, he hadn’t been tired when they all turned in, his mind alive with all the ways their mission could go wrong, all the ways he could fuck it all up _again_.

The group rose with the Galaxy and they quietly equipped themselves to journey into unchartered territory, territory even Tobio hadn’t explored outside the human boundaries.  As he changed and checked the charge on his pistol, he fought against the perplexing mix of fatigue, crankiness, anxiousness, and worry that threatened to take him under; the thought of seeing Shouyou soon was the only buoy that kept him afloat.

He tried to force his attention on the gun in his hands but worry over Shouyou and how he’d fared this past week wouldn’t let him.  Worry wondering if they’d been too late to save him, if _he’d_ been too late to save him.  He’d never worried about anything or anyone so much in his entire life.

Not even himself.  Never himself.

Tobio sighed, sick of having missions and plans and fucking _schemes_ to sneak in here and fetch some stupid shit out of there, a sentiment that seemed to be mirrored on Koushi’s face that solemn morning.  The man approached the kitchenette where Tobio stood, grabbing a cup of coffee.

“You’re wearing your robes,” Tobio remarked, shuffling his weight back and forth on his feet.

The priest nodded.  “Maybe if at least one of us looks non-threatening we’ll get out of this alive,” he said to his coffee.

Tobio made a little noise in the back of his throat in acknowledgement of Koushi’s statement because their plan wasn’t much of a plan at all: leave the terminal, convince a Luxan (without speaking) to not only spare their lives, but aid them by contacting neighboring colonies.  Then, they had to acquire the cooperation of colonies of Luxans to find Shouyou, all without the aliens deciding _not_ to kill their week-long trespasser.   _Easy peasy._ Despite it being his favorite planet, Tobio had never met a planet native.

He was still alive, after all.

But Shouyou was out there.  He would never fail him, never again.

_Because I--_

“Alright, let’s do this.  Again,” Sawamura said a little jokingly, but only Kuroo laughed.  Tobio huffed out a breath, grateful for Sawamura’s interruption of his uncomfortable thoughts.

Koushi, Sawamura, Kuroo, and Tobio left shortly thereafter, re-entering the terminal in the considerably busy early morning hour.  Tobio made his way down the long corridor, ignoring the hallway side-branches leading to other gates where hundreds of different spacecraft were docked, owned by creatures from all over the Universe.  He ignored almost everything: the migrating denizens, the beat of the footsteps of his comrades, the words from Kozume chirping in his ear through the comm.  His tunneled senses led him straight to the terminal doors, ones that would lead to the dangers outside yet ever closer to Shouyou.

Each step they took ramped up his heartbeat and accelerated his breathing, his anticipation of seeing Shouyou again driving his focus towards the only thing that was important to him, the thing more important to him than even humanity’s continued existence.  Tobio never considered himself much of a combatant, but with a gun in his hand and Shouyou waiting for him, he’d put on just about any mask to get the job done.

He struggled to believe it himself, but after so many years of being alone, so many years of self isolation, someone had barged into his life and grabbed ahold of him with his brown eyes and his ridiculous orange hair and his easy smile.  Someone had wrecked him and re-built him anew into a person that could feel desire, joy… love.

_Love._

And now that his heart knew the track of Shouyou’s beat, a rhythm he craved that resonated deep in his soul, he wanted nothing more than to get it back.  He knew he’d risk it all just to hear his melodic laugh once more.

But if it were up to him, he’d hear it for the rest of his stupid life.

So when they reached the terminus of the hub, Tobio easily ignored the warning placards at the gated exits, the slew of flashing signs meant to deter the passing traveller from accidentally facing the dangers of hostile Luxans.  Tobio shoved the successive doors open wide, stepping into the ominous darkness of the planet’s natural environs.

He took in a deep breath of fresh morning air and surveyed the area around him, finding little else but a repeating pattern of dirt and giant trees topped with massive, limp green leaves.  He turned and practically shook as he waited for his slower-moving comrades to join him, the group less eager than him to face the dangers of the forest.

Sawamura addressed the group, “Alright, we will circle the building in pairs, then push out to a larger radius and repeat until we run into a Luxan.  We will… try not to die, if what Kageyama says is true.  Any questions?”

“Uhhhm, yeah.”

Sawamura sighed.  “What is it, Tetsu?”

“Why don’t we just go to that smoke right over there?”  Kuroo pointed to a column of smoke emanating from within the trees, visible even high above the tree stalks.

 _Could he be…_ “Let’s go,” Tobio practically yelled, running off in the direction of the smoke, not waiting to see if the others were following.  Maybe it was that easy.  Maybe he was just… there.  Alive.  Safe.

_Desire, joy, love… hope?_

While the smoke peeking through the trees seemed close, on foot it was still quite the trek, his body coursing through the forest terrain on fumes of adrenaline.  An hour of full-on running had Tobio cramped up and panting by the time he spotted the clearing from within the treeline; despite his muscles’ desperate need of oxygen, his breathing stopped at the sight before him.

At the center was the firepit emitting the smoke in question, and as his eyes scanned the periphery his heart followed the pace of his breathing and stopped dead in his chest.

Just off to the side, passed out and twitching on a split log in front of the fire, Tobio spotted his mark.  Forgetting where he was, Tobio smiled at the sight of Shouyou’s orange hair, as mussed as ever.  

_It’s… it’s him, and he’s…_

Caring little of the consequences, Tobio bolted into the clearing but found his path suddenly obstructed by one of the most notorious creatures in the local Universe.

Impossibly tall and white as a sheet, the alien blocked his path and grimaced down at him, their blue eyes fierce, their long arms wielding the tip of a makeshift spear against Tobio’s chest.

And then it dawned on him.

_Oh god, no… no!_

Shouyou had somehow survived the entire week on this distant planet all alone but now because of Tobio and his clumsy, bumbling race through the forest, they’d found him--

He heard shouts behind him, his comrades probably in similar predicaments if what he knew about the pack nature of Luxans was true, but Tobio couldn’t hear any inkling of their struggle.  He had to warn Shouyou.  Shouyou couldn’t die like this, not when Tobio had finally found him…

He pushed against the alien,  grabbing the stalk of the spear and craning his neck around them to look at his Shouyou again.  He had to warn him, he had to give him a chance even if the rest of them were doomed to die horrible, bloody deaths.

“SHOUYOU!  RUN!   _RUN!  GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!_ ”

He stopped yelling when he saw Shouyou wake, but he wasn’t fast enough.   _Not fucking fast enough!  Get up, you dumbass!_ He was too goddamn slow, too fucking slow to escape the Luxan that was coming up behind him.

“SH-SHOU!  NO!   _GET AWAY FROM HIM!_ ” he screamed, his voice cracking with desperation as he pressed with more fervor against the alien’s threatening spear, the creature not giving an iota, Tobio held up in an impenetrable, deadly corral.  He barely registered the blood trickling down his torso as he unsuccessfully held the spear at bay.

Finally his efforts bore fruit; Shouyou’s wide, alarmed, _alert_ brown eyes soon met his, and Tobio could just make out him mouthing his name before he inexplicably turned to the alien behind him.  He turned to them… as if… _expecting_ them to be there.

_Wait… what--_

Tobio watched on, unable to speak as Shouyou locked eyes with the fucking alien and held his closed hand over his chest.

 _What the actual_ fuck--

Distracted as he was by Shouyou’s silent little chat with the _Luxan_ , Tobio lost his balance and fell forward on his hands and knees in the dirt when his corrall withdrew.  Tobio looked up slowly, his eyes homing beacons as they immediately targeted the only thing in the Universe worth seeing.  Shouyou, who was now holding hands with a supremely dangerous creature, one all species across the Galaxy feared.  Despite the obvious danger, as soon as Tobio realized that nothing laid between the two of them but dirt and moss, he hurried to his feet, tripping in the process.

He’d worry about humanity, the world, and these fucking aliens later.

“ _Shouyou,_ ” he whispered, watching Shouyou’s face crumple with his tears.

“To… _Tobio_ ,” Shouyou pleaded, crying, as he stepped forward only to collapse on his knees in the dirt.  A haze descended over Tobio such that he could only hear Shouyou’s whimpers, his hiccups as he cried, he could only see his dirtied hands clutching his chest.  Tobio’s vision blurred for everything but him as he awkwardly stumbled forward, at long last falling to his knees in front of Shouyou and taking him roughly into his arms, never feeling more right in his whole life.

“Oh god, _Shou_ ,” he spoke as he pressed his face into Shouyou’s hair, melding the young man’s body with his.  Tobio clutched his slight but warm frame, cradling him and whispering nothings into his ear, “I’ve got you, Shou.  I’ve got you.”

“I was so scared,” a soft voice spoke into his shirt, now damp with Shouyou’s tears.  “I missed you so much…”

The relief of being with him again, of knowing that he was alive and safe and right where he was supposed to be tapped a wellspring of emotions inside of Tobio, his tears soon joining Shouyou’s.   They held each other in the clearing, the group around them gone for all he knew.

“I… I m-missed… I missed you, too…”

For some reason that made Shouyou cry even harder.

At some point, Tobio unsure of how much time had passed, they pulled apart and Shouyou managed the brightest smile in the whole Universe, just for him.  Tobio rubbed his hands up and down Shouyou’s arms, helpless to smile in return, speaking through his abating tears.  “H-How is it that you--you managed to befriend the--the most dangerous race in the Galaxy?”

Shouyou hiccuped.  “We’re not in the Galaxy, Tobio,” he replied, a teasing lilt to his voice.

“Dumbass,” Tobio whispered as he moved his hand to Shouyou’s cheek, his heart fluttering when the young man nuzzled his palm.

“Look, Tobio,” Shouyou whispered, pointing up.

The Galaxy began to crest in the sky, a sight Tobio had hoped to show him one day albeit under _slightly_ different circumstances.  But even in this magical place, a place where they were both safe and together, Tobio spared it but a glance to quickly look back down at Shouyou.

“Beautiful,” he whispered.

One last tear escaped Shouyou’s eye before Tobio leaned forward, taking his lips with his own.  Uncaring of their human and alien audience, he poured everything into their kiss: all the fear, the longing, and the anguish he’d felt all the days they were apart.  He tried to convey everything he felt for the young man, emotions he would surely struggle to parse into the right words.   _Are there even words for this?_ He felt Shouyou grab fistfuls of his shirt at his back and they were soon clutching each other again on the cold dirt of a distant, faraway exoplanet.

When they parted, Tobio pressed his face back into Shouyou’s hair, content to just hold him for as long as Shouyou wanted.  Anything he wanted.

“I’m so sorry,” he managed, speaking into Shouyou’s hair.

“N-no, Tobio.  We… I need to talk to you,” Shouyou whispered into Tobio’s chest, his voice weak and shaky.  Tobio only nodded, squeezing him just a little bit tighter in response.  A lot had happened to them both in their weeks apart.

_If I have my way, we’ll never have to catch up ever again._

Shouyou placed his hands on Tobio’s shoulders to help himself stand up, but his legs gave out almost immediately, Tobio fortunate for the soft dirt beneath them.

“Shouyou!  Are you okay?  What’s wrong?”

Shouyou looked down a little guiltily but was waylaid by the rest of the group before he could respond, as if his attempt at standing was some kind of invitation.  Koushi arrived first, taking hold of Shouyou’s face in his hands, the permanent grimace etched in his brows lifted in the presence of the fifth element.

“You did so well, Shouyou.  I’m so proud of you.”  They smiled at each other as Kuroo came up behind them and placed a hand on Shouyou’s shoulder, Sawamura following suit.  They shared various sentiments that Tobio tuned out, the only thought on his mind the weakened state of Shouyou.  As he moved to be closer to him, the reuniting humans were joined by someone else, one of the aliens hovering quietly at the periphery of their feels-circle.  Shouyou turned, beckoning the tall, deadly being closer.

“Um, guys, this is my friend.  I don’t… know their name, but they kept me safe out here,” Shouyou spoke as he held onto the alien’s forearm.

_He’s alive because of…_

Tobio looked up, up, _up_ into the crystal blue eyes of the supposedly dangerous being to find the alien already watching him with what appeared to be soft expression, if such a thing was possible.  He carefully enunciated a thank you, for which he received some sort of smile and a pat on the head.  Shouyou giggled.

_I can’t believe this is happening…._

“Ooh!  Oh!  I almost forgot!” Shouyou turned quickly as if to run off somewhere but immediately collapsed, the otherworldly reflexes of his alien friend more than up to the task of catching him.

“Sh… Shou, what’s going on?”

Still in the alien’s grasp, Shouyou looked up at the Luxan as he pointed at Koushi, not saying anything.

But he didn’t have to.

The alien’s sharp eyes panned over Koushi’s priest robes; their eyes widened before they carefully set Shouyou on his feet to bolt towards their leafy tents.

Shouyou latched onto Tobio as the alien returned before Tobio could even think of what to ask or take in the worried looks the others were giving Shouyou.  The alien stopped in front of the priest, handing him a battered, folded-up linen cloth.  They all waited as Koushi carefully unfolded the material, holding it up to catch the light of the fire nearby.

That all went to hell when he gasped, nearly dropping the damn thing on the moss-covered ground.

“Oh my… oh my word!  Daichi, look, it’s…”

“I can’t read that shit, babe.”

“It’s the ancient language!  It’s…”  He sniffled, and looked up at the alien, his next words coming out stunted by tears.  “It’s a… it’s a… it’s a… map to the--the stones!”

“Wait, Koushi… how do we know this isn’t a fake, too?  Don’t humans have the stones?”

Koushi composed himself, wiping his tears on his sleeve.  “After so many epochs, the ancient language has been all but lost.  The only people who bothered to keep up with it are a handful of historians and people in my order, and even then, I’m the only one fluent enough to read or speak it!  I can count on one hand the number of people in the entire Galaxy that could fabricate this, Daichi.  I know my order is supposed to have them, but… it’s… it has to be genuine!”

“But how?  When would the humans have--”

The alien stepped up, placing the wide berth of their palm on Koushi’s head and quieting the group’s speculative murmuring.  Koushi’s eyes went wide, his own hand coming up to cover his mouth in shock.

Koushi broke the silence of the clearing, the alien’s hand firmly on his head, “Th… They’re speaking to me in the ancient language, in… wait…”

Tobio felt Shouyou’s hand on his arm squeeze.

Koushi blinked his eyes shut in apparent concentration, translating on-the-spot whatever archaic words the alien was transmitting directly into his brain.  Tobio knew Luxans were telepathic, but this was… something else.

“A few thousand years ago… the… the Mondoshawans… asked the humans to… rescind the stones?”  Koushi looked up, his eyebrows sky-high.  He spoke a few words in a language Tobio had never even heard before and continued his translation after a few moments.

“The head priest agreed, for it was… prophesied… that the next fifth element…  was destined to… leave the Galaxy,” he paused, looking over at Shouyou and smiling.  “The only place outside the Galaxy we’d colonized at the time was Luxate.  It was so that the Mondoshawans entrusted the stones to their long-time and well-trained allies, the Luxans,” Koushi added himself.

“So they’ve been here ever sin--”

Koushi held up a hand to stop Sawamura as he continued translating, “We are taking the… supreme being… to acquire the other… stones.  Wait, _other_ stones?  Shouyou?”

Shouyou nodded, smile splitting his face in half.  “We already have the Earth one!”

Koushi burst into tears.

\----

For most of his life, Tobio just wanted to be alone, far away on some ship in the middle of the Galaxy with nothing but data for company.  He’d always been antsy for flight, jumping from place to place, avoiding any and all instances where human contact would be required.

It felt strange to want the exact opposite.

After updating Kozume on the good news and inviting him off the ship, Koushi, Sawamura, and Kuroo gathered around the fire with the alien to discuss stone retrieval strategies.  Tobio didn’t care enough to follow along and join in.

Though he’d almost died trying to steal back the stones from the government, all he wanted to do was tuck Shouyou away somewhere safe and never, ever leave.

“Come lie down with me?” Shouyou asked quietly, Tobio unable to discern the cause of the young man’s flushed cheeks.

“Sure.”

Shouyou leaned on Tobio as they walked to his tent just within the treeline, out of sight from the ever-increasing group of humans and aliens huddled around the central bonfire.  The Galaxy high in the sky bathed the Luxan surface with gentle illumination that only served to highlight the bags under Shouyou’s eyes and the grave sunkenness of his cheeks.

Just large enough for the two of them to lie down together, Shouyou snuggled into Tobio’s arms in the privacy of the tent, pressing his face against his chest.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong now?”

Shouyou’s silence spoke volumes, and soon his body started shaking, likely with the effort to keep his tears quiet from the others in the clearing.  Tears that tore Tobio apart, his heart constricting in sympathy.

“Sh-Shou, _please_ ,” Tobio whispered as he held him tighter.

After a few deep breaths and sniffles, Shouyou finally spoke.  “I… I can’t sleep.  I keep seeing… seeing…”

“What, Shou?”  Tobio pulled back, nudging Shouyou’s head up with his hands.  Emotions contorted his face, the battle not to cry unfolding in the squint of his eyes and the tightness of his jaw.  His words came out distorted, punctuated by forceful hiccups.

“They… they hurt me, they hurt me so bad, Tobio.  I… thought I was okay, but… but…  I keep… I keep seeing them… when I try to…. to sleep…”

“Nightmares?”

Shouyou nodded, looking down at their joined hands, twisting together between them.  Tobio held them together tightly as Shouyou’s shoulders shook.

The airlock felt better than this.

“Can you tell me what happened, Shou?”

Tobio knew nightmares.  He thought back to Z Ori-a, waking to Shouyou’s screams and how, for some reason, tucking him in Tobio’s bed had helped him get some sleep.  He thought back to his own torturous dreams, ones that always left him feeling worse when he woke up when the stark reality of his solitude smacked him in the face.  Maybe if they--

Shouyou abruptly sat up, facing away to shuck off his top, Tobio watching his naked back expand and contract with his breathing, too surprised to ask what he was doing.  When Shouyou finally turned back around Tobio couldn’t help but gasp as a wellspring of shock, devastation, sorrow, and righteous _anger_ surged within him.

Tobio’s eyes followed the lines of Shouyou’s scars, the thick, pink, lumpy discolorations spanning from his shoulders to his chest, connecting to form a Y-shaped line down his abdomen and concluding at his belly button.  His concoction of emotions became an ocean he drowned in, making it difficult to breathe, let alone _think_.  As his mind tried to piece together what that must have been like and how scared he must have been, all alone and having to endure that by himself, he felt his tears slink from his eyes down to his ears and his hands shake at his sides.  He heard a whirlwind of air rush through the tent, only to realize it was his own breathing.  He’d been helpless to save him, and those responsible were supposed to be his protectors, his _champions--_

“Oh god, _Sho--_ ”

“It’s… it’s so ugly, isn’t it?” Shouyou whispered as his fingertips outlined the scar, the small words somehow contaminating the very air Tobio breathed.  The waves of Tobio’s emotions receded to paltry neap tides only strong enough to leave shock behind on his shore.

“Wh… what?”

Shouyou made to cover himself up with his makeshift shirt but Tobio surged up to stop him with a touch to his wrists.  He gently tugged at him, coaxing him to lie back down in the tent that was completely quiet but for the huffs of their labored breathing.

As Tobio thought of what to say to him, he recalled all of the embarrassing flowery words he usually used when thinking about Shouyou, individually a jumbled mess of puzzle pieces he had no idea how to fit together.

Tobio had no devastating physical scars; his were buried deep within the insecurity of his own skin.  Even if it went against his carefully crafted algorithm to avoid thinking about what had happened to him back in high school, Shouyou deserved to see him, too.   _Awake, this time._ Shouyou deserved to have a partner in this, to be in this shitfest of a mission together, and… everyday afterwards.  

_He’ll never be alone again._

So maybe when he knew his words would fail, Tobio could _show_ him.  Tobio huffed out a breath and sat up, finding that his hands shook as he wordlessly reached for the bottom of his own shirt to quickly pull it off, tossing it to the same corner of the tent as Shouyou’s.  He took a deep breath and laid back down, turning to face Shouyou next to him.

_It’s… it’s so ugly, isn’t it?_

He looked down at himself as a bout of nervousness slammed into him, but soon he felt the weight of Shouyou’s eyes on him, eyes that shined with new tears.

“N-no, Shouyou… why are you crying…”

As Shouyou began to full-on sob, Tobio reached forward to touch his cheek.  He smoothed his fingers down his neck to his scarring, tracing the portion of it on his upper shoulder.  Shouyou flinched at the contact and grabbed at Tobio’s hand, holding it away from him as his body started to shake.

“But… but it’s…” Shouyou spoke through his tears.

“No, Shouyou, it’s--you’re--” he stuttered, the words dying in his throat.  How… how could he show him that no amount of scarring could make him love him any less?

_Shit._

Deciding to deal with that thought a bit later, Tobio leaned up and positioned himself over Shouyou, leaning on his one elbow.  He watched Shouyou’s eyes widen as Tobio slid his hand across the healing pink skin, his neck bending forward so his lips could follow his fingers.  He breathed in his scent, felt the soft, puffed skin under his lips, and pulled Shouyou close to him.  If he couldn’t find the words, he’d show him, somehow.

“ _Tobio…_ ”

The world around him ceased to exist, the sound of his name on Shouyou’s lips eliciting a shiver down his spine as he made a path with his kisses, the rise and fall of Shouyou’s chest quickening as he mapped out his pale, sweet, newly marred but healing skin.  He felt hands in his hair and looked up, finding a plea within Shouyou’s wide, brown eyes.

“Make me forget, Tobio… _please…_ ”

_Anything for you._

A weak smile broke through the worry clouding Shouyou’s face; he must have spoken aloud.  In that moment, that smile only reminded him of how many people seemed to want to wipe it off his face and take away Shouyou’s agency and happiness.

And how close to success they’d been.

_Never again, I won’t fail you again, Shouyou…_

An impulse to protect him had Tobio rearing up to cover Shouyou with his body, and he couldn’t believe how perfect it felt when Shouyou bent his knees to make room for Tobio’s hips between them.  Tobio leaned in and took his time kissing Shouyou’s neck and forehead, slowly but surely winding a circuitous path towards his lips, the tent transporting them to their own quiet, little world.

Tobio figured they’d both had enough drama for twenty lifetimes.

Tobio shuddered when Shouyou wrapped his arms and legs around him; the warmth of Shouyou’s chest pressing against his made him feel his heartbeat pulsate throughout his entire body.  As much as he wanted to keep kissing him, he didn’t want to take his eyes off Shouyou after not knowing if he’d ever see him again.  He pressed up to his elbows so he could look at him, their bodies aligned, two jagged and frayed halves of a whole somehow reuniting perfectly after all that had happened.

“Is… is this okay?” he asked, feeling the heat of their bodies creep up onto his face.

“Yes, Tobio, _please_.  I want you,” he spoke quietly but with conviction.  Shouyou paused and looked down at Tobio’s chest, a blush creeping up his cheeks, too, one that knocked the air out of Tobio’s lungs.  “ _Only_ you,” he whispered.

Tobio wasted no time slanting his lips over Shouyou’s, the words of his angel piquing his need.  He leaned his bodyweight onto him as their tongues danced together feverishly, the two taking what they needed from each other.

_Only you._

He moaned when Shouyou squeezed his legs around him, their bodies so close Tobio was unsure where he ended and Shouyou began, so close that he felt Shouyou’s hardened cock pressed against him through his cloth pants.  Tobio was helpless to grind against him to match the rhythm of their kiss.

He wanted to see Shouyou come apart underneath him here on Luxate like he did on Z Ori-a, but anxiety pierced him through.  Though he was reassured by Shouyou’s moans, he’d never done anything like this before.  He’d never bothered researching anything sexual or _whatever_ online, expecting to be alone on some distant, cold ship for the rest of his life, especially after high school.  Everything he did felt unpracticed and unsure, and after all Shouyou had been through, he didn’t want there to be any doubt.

_Am I supposed to ask?  What should I do?  What if he doesn’t… like it?_

He broke their kiss, looking down at Shouyou and his shining, brown eyes.  He held his tongue, worried about looking stupid in front of him.  

“Are you okay, Tobio?” Shouyou whispered after a few moments, his raw voice cracking on Tobio’s name.

_He always knows…_

“I… um… wh-what do you… want?” he managed entirely without romance, his stutters embarrassing enough to tear his eyes from Shouyou’s face.

_Fucking dumbass, Tobio._

“Anything, Tobio.  Is there something you want?”

Tobio nodded after a prolonged silence.

“Will you tell me?”

He returned his gaze to Shouyou, finding the young man smiling impishly beneath him.  Then the orange-haired deviant started to _giggle_.

“Is my genius _embarrassed?”_

“Sh… shut up, no, I’m just--”

“Just?”

He huffed out a breath.  “Stay still, dumbass.”

Tobio sat up, his hands shaking as he reached for Shouyou’s makeshift Luxan-style pants, Shouyou’s giggles dying out as Tobio stripped him and tossed the pants to the ever-increasing pile of clothes accumulating in the tent corner.  He’d never done this before, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it in recent weeks.   _A lot._

With only one person in mind.

Tobio let the _totally fucking naked_ Shouyou squirm under his gaze for a few seconds before he bent over and returned his lips to his scarring, gently kissing and teasing his skin laid bare with his teeth and tongue.  He rested his hands on Shouyou’s shaking thighs as he nipped at him, rubbing reassuring circles in the soft skin there with his thumbs.  

Tobio sucked in a bravery breath as he moved down, feeling Shouyou’s hands in his hair.  As he neared Shouyou’s deep pink, hardened cock, he looked back up at Shouyou, wanting nothing more than to taste him; the undone look on his face took Tobio’s breath away.

Shouyou rasped his name as he looked down and locked eyes with Tobio, his mouth parted and face as red as the opulent table runners in the Tanaka mansion.

He wrapped his shaking hand around Shouyou’s cock, sliding it up until his palm covered the head, giving it a gentle squeeze.  “Shouyou,” he replied almost as a question, watching as seeming waves of pleasure  arched Shouyou’s back, his hips and spine undulating with pulses of his need.  The sight transfixed Tobio, making him want to do _this_ for Shouyou all the more.

He felt a moan of his own escape his throat, nervous and eager to make manifest his deepest fantasies, the ones he began having ever since Shouyou set his whole world-- _universe--_ on fire.  He kept a hand on his writhing hips as he slipped his other down Shouyou’s cock, lowering his head and closing his eyes to taste Shouyou for the first time.

“Mmm, Sh-Shouyou…” he husked, the warmth of embarrassment suffusing his cheeks.

He took a few more experimental licks, revelating in each moan and whimper from Shouyou below him, his writhing limbs mussing up the pallet underneath him.

_Is it weird how much I… I… like this?_

The image of Shouyou’s swollen cock, shining with his spit, of his slight frame bending and twisting with Tobio’s ministrations, and of his brown eyes locked onto him were sure to be carved into his memory forever.

But he hoped he wouldn’t need merely memories to see _this_ again.

Tobio smiled to himself as he wrapped his lips around Shouyou’s cockhead, eagerly gliding his tongue along its underside.  Shouyou’s moans drowned out any lingering insecurity Tobio held onto, Shouyou’s pleasure his own as he moved down to take him fully into his mouth, swallowing to accommodate much of his length.  He tasted the musky, salty scent of him, Shouyou’s cockhead smooth and warm as he dipped down again and again, hiding his teeth with his lips, pressing firmly with his tongue, trying to imagine how he might like to have this done to _him_.

As Tobio got lost in the rhythm, it seemed so soon that Shouyou’s moans turned to gasps.  Shouyou’s heels pressed into his back as Tobio kept up his pace, pulling and sucking and licking up and down his cock.  Shouyou’s taste sharpened on his tongue just as he began to shake in earnest beneath him, his hands now iron-clad fists in Tobio’s hair.

“T-Tobio, I’m… I’m…”

He hummed in response, his mind trying to prepare itself for what he knew would happen, to accept all Shouyou had to give him.  It wasn’t long before Shouyou shouted and Tobio felt nails digging into his scalp and the shock of hot, salty release on his tongue.  He slowed his movements as Shouyou shivered beneath him and waited until his orange-haired angel floated back down to Earth-- _err, Luxate_ \--from the peak of his pleasure before releasing Shouyou from his lips and swallowing down his cum.

An easy quiet descended over the tent when Tobio sat up and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.  He felt his face smile impulsively as Shouyou went boneless on the floor of the tent, watching as a cloud of tension he hadn’t noticed ease off his face, revealing the relaxed facade of the young man he had come to love.

Tobio was overcome with the thought of what they’d done, his first-- _no, second_ \--sexual experience that ended with that look on Shouyou’s face.  He _loved_ that look on his face.  He only hoped Shouyou enjoyed that as much as he did.

_I… I actually sucked his--_

And then Shouyou’s half-mast eyes were looking up at him, his lids creased with his relaxed smile.  Shouyou lazily scooted back and sat up in front of Tobio in the tent.  He toyed with his orange curls.  “Mmm, Tobio… that was… ”

Tobio rubbed the back of his neck with his palm.  “Did you… like that?”

Shouyou giggled, weakly poking at Tobio’s chest.  “What do _you_ think?”

Tobio looked down and blushed, feeling like the amateur he was, but it wasn’t long before Shouyou was on his knees, pushing at Tobio’s shoulders with another question.  “Lie down for me?”

Tobio frowned when his stomach dropped at the guess of Shouyou’s intention.  He felt a giddy anticipation that made his toes curl at the thought of… doing things to Shouyou, but he wasn’t sure why Shouyou would want to do the same to him.

_Maybe he just wants to go to sleep.  There’s no way he…_

Shouyou smiled, a little laugh escaping his throat as he moved the pads of his fingers over Tobio’s shoulders.  Tobio shivered.  “I don’t know about you, but… I’ve never done this before!”

As Tobio waded in the familiar murky fear that enveloped him, he wondered when life would grant him more than little morsels of fleeting happiness.   _You’re so stupid, Tobio…_  “You don’t… you don’t have to do anything…”

_You don’t deserve more than that, remember?_

“Please?”

Tobio obliged and shifted his stiffened and tense limbs to lie down, only because of that eager look on Shouyou’s face.  Shouyou reached forward to tug the elastic of the track pants he wore, but one of Tobio’s hands reflexively shot forward to grab Shouyou’s wrist.

Tobio watched the mirth run away from Shouyou’s face as a loaded silence pervaded the tent.   _How will you explain this one, idiot?_ “Um… I’m--”

“You don’t like taking your clothes off, do you?”

Tobio released his wrist in surprise.  “N-no,” he whispered, already feeling completely bare in front of Shouyou.

He flinched when Shouyou laid his hands flat on his stomach, forgetting he’d taken off his shirt already.  “Why?” Shouyou asked.  “You’re… you’re, um… I like you, Tobio.  I think you’re really, really amazing!”

_Wh-what?_

Shouyou took one of Tobio’s hands between his own, their clammy fingers awkwardly intertwining.   Tobio looked down at his long, slender fingers as they dwarfed Shouyou’s own.   _Do I… tell him?_

_But compared to what he’s been through, it’s so stupid…_

“Tobio?”

He steeled his chest, the nervous flutters within him damping out his lust.  Each draw of blood to his heart felt viscous.  

“Please tell me?” Shouyou whispered.

 _Okay._  He positioned his eyes on Shouyou’s scarring-- _he’s broken, too_ \--and the words came.  “It’s… um.  I was… attacked... in high school.  Someone tried to… to…” he spoke as he released Shouyou’s hand to cross his arms over his chest, his voice small, his unseeing eyes now darting every which way.

He just couldn’t say it out loud yet, even after all this time.   _Rape.  He tried to_ rape _me._

Shouyou said nothing but turned to hug his side, the tent quiet enough to hear vague murmurings from the logistics group around the fire.

“I’m sorry,” Shouyou spoke quietly, the words heavy with the weight of some emotion Tobio couldn’t discern.  “We didn’t have to do anything like that… we don’t have to--”

Tobio interrupted him by turning suddenly to face him, his next thought careening out of his mouth.  “ _No!_  I wanted to.”

At Shouyou’s shy smile, the words started tumbling out, words he’d never spoken aloud to anyone, including himself.  “I… I want to.  You’re the only one I’ve…” He shook his head, willing himself to continue.  “I thought I put it behind me, but… it comes back... sometimes.  But I don’t want it to.  Not with you.  Never with you.”

“I want to, too, Tobio.  If you let me, I’ll… I’ll stop whenever you want,” Shouyou asked with a little smile, resting his palm on Tobio’s chest.  “But only if you’re ready!” he hastened to add, his fingers curling into a fist.

Tobio concentrated in his breaths, mechanical but life-sustaining in so many ways.  Here on Luxate, they could pretend everything that had happened was so far away.  In a way, the culmination of the voyage that led them here was a reprieve of sorts.  On Luxate, he’d never been attacked.  On Luxate, Shouyou hadn’t been hurt by the corrupt government, or Koushi’s alleged allies, or the lurking memory of high school teammates.  A capable army of fucking _aliens_ surrounded them, shielding them from the bullshit of the universe.  Here, they were just two people, two lovers sharing a tent on a brisk, quiet morning.

And though the real world beckoned and the evil had returned, Tobio knew that after the scheming masterminds outside the tent hashed things out for a few hours, their plan to complete the ritual would likely be completed.  The countdown clock ticking ever closer and closer to the inevitable end of this veritable _cluster flux_ was nothing but a relief to Tobio.

It would all be over soon.  In not too long, it could be like this, just the two of them, all the time.  He hoped.

He really, _really_ hoped.

All he could do was nod, undone by his angel’s lack of pity, his easy acceptance.  Tobio marveled at the care he took with Tobio’s needs, needs Shouyou seemed to always understand somehow despite his outward rambunctiousness, despite how goofy he acted sometimes.  Somehow he understood that Tobio needed to kiss him in front of everyone, he needed to protect him from innocent head scruffs, he needed to slow down in the stupid movie theater and he needed to hold him close and give him pleasure in this goddamn tent.

He needed to protect Shouyou where no one had protected him.

But maybe he needed this, too.

“Will you take off your pants for me?” Shouyou asked to his chest, his fingers drawing circles on Tobio’s skin.  Shouyou’s hot breath made him shiver.

He could do this.  He could do this for himself, to help the tangles of his trauma recede just that much more from his mind.  He turned to lie fully on his back, lifting his hips up to slide the last vestiges of his security down his legs.

Shouyou must have noticed the tremor in his hands because he urged, “It’s okay, Tobio.  You can say no.  Oh!  We can have a, uhm… it’s, um… it’s supposed to be a word that, uh…”

As Shouyou tapped his fingers together in thought, Tobio curled his back a little bit, shielding his half-erect cock with his hands.  “A… a safe word?”

“Yeah!  How about… Luxate!”

“But we’re on Luxate… we will probably say it a lot, so you have to--”

“Alien?”

Tobio curled on himself even more.   _He’s gotta be kidding me._ “It has to be a word we won’t say all the fucking time--”

“Nevermind!  Um, okay!  How about… um… curry buns!”

“That’s two words--”

“It can’t be two words?”

“It’s a safe _word_ , Shou--”

“Okay then!  Strawberry?”

 _Jesus christ._  “St-Strawberry?”

“We had those pancakes with strawberries at the Tanakas’, remember?”

 _Right._ “Um… sure.”

Without any tact whatsoever, Shouyou peeled Tobio’s stiff arms away from his chest and straddled his hips, his smile illuminating the inside of their dark tent and Tobio’s whole damn life.  

“Wh-what are you--”

Shouyou stopped his words with the press of his lips on his mouth and the warmth of his chest against his own.  He shivered as Shouyou kissed him, falling deeper under the weight of some newfound emotion he couldn’t put into words.  He couldn’t believe how Shouyou accepted him, faults and all.  He loved Shouyou’s wild orange hair and his clammy hands on his chest.  He loved his unerring smile, the one that still clawed its way to the surface after being fucking _tortured._

With Tobio flat on his back, Shouyou slowed down as he lay on Tobio and kissed him, parting his lips to shyly peek out his tongue.  Tobio slid his hands up and around Shouyou, his tight anxiety unfurling with every pass of his palms up and down the young man’s back, a soothing balm to his soul.

 _He’s alive.  He’s safe.  He’s_ here.

_He… wants this._

Tobio’s erection returned with a vengeance after the two made out like a pair of teenagers for… a while, the concept of time gone as with most other rational thoughts in Tobio’s shorted-out brain.  Shouyou rocked his hips against Tobio in irregular thrusts, Tobio blushing at the sticky, hot feel of their bodies rubbing together.

Shouyou pulled back, their heavy breaths shared.  “Remember, Tobio, strawberry.”

“I remember, dumbass,” he whispered, pulling Shouyou’s head back down to resume their kiss.

When Shouyou pulled back again not long after, Tobio was prepared to chastise him yet again that _yes, he remembered the fucking strawberry_ but Shouyou didn’t ask any questions this time.  Instead, he nudged Tobio’s chin to the side to kiss his neck, his collarbone, and his chest in sequence with short, eager pecks.

A helpless string of sounds escaped Tobio’s throat, what with the foreign feeling of teeth and tongue caressing the nerve endings all over his torso.  He couldn’t help but shiver as he slid his palms up through Shouyou’s wild orange hair, the messy tresses a manifestation of how this had him all twisted up inside.  

Messy, bright… wild.

_Alive._

And then Shouyou ran a tooth over Tobio’s taut nipple, a trigger that had Tobio’s body contracting and squirming underneath him as he whined-- _whined_ \--at the pleasure.  “Sh--Shou…!”

As if a switch had been flicked, Shouyou’s urgency escalated, kissing across Tobio’s torso in a drunken random walk, using his teeth to wring more of those noises out of Tobio.  Tobio could feel the puffs of hair escaping Shouyou’s nose, so fervid in his efforts he barely came up for air.  His world became nothing but sticky sweet skin, hot friction, the sound of air rushing through their noses, and helpless whimpers that came from them both.

_So… so good…_

Shouyou managed to work his way further down Tobio’s abdomen, licking him as he feasted like a man starved and Tobio a four-course meal.  Each pass of Shouyou’s tongue and each sharp sting of his teeth set Tobio ablaze, a rising inferno that burned him and itched him from within.  He needed this so badly that he became antsy for it, shaking with the need for that pressure to find its way somewhere else--

All of a sudden Shouyou’s kisses stopped, and Tobio looked down to find Shouyou peering back up at him, his unusually serious face hovering just over Tobio’s rock-hard erection.

“Can I?” he whispered, as if afraid to disturb the palpable, electrifying arousal that held them both captive.

 _Yes, yes… I can do this…_ please…

Tobio had thought the safe word was a little kitchy; he didn’t need a stupid word to indicate he was uncomfortable.  Even so, now that Shouyou was literally about to give him his first-ever blow job, his insidious nerves clawed their way back to the surface.  Though he drunk in the sight of the unmistakable bright brown eyes and orange hair of the young man at his hips, the back of his mind still clung to the damn word like a lifeline.

 _Strawberry_.  It’s okay.   _He always knows._ It’s okay.   _Strawberry_.

“Yes,” Tobio managed to reply in a shaky voice as his fingers traced Shouyou’s cherub-like cheeks.

 _For him… for_ me _._

Tobio sucked in a breath at the first hot, slick lap of Shouyou’s tongue on his cock, simultaneously too much and not nearly enough.  He ached and moaned, his body shaking with desperation for more and Shouyou continued lazily licking at him.  Tobio’s hips shot up, his body a slave to his reflexes, all his senses deafened but for the pleasure at his dick.  He barely registered Shouyou’s husky laugh, barely felt Shouyou’s hand around the base of his cock, propping it up off his body.

“Sh… Shouyou… please… _please…_ ”

He couldn’t believe the _fucking words_ coming out of his mouth.  

His head shook back and forth on the tent floor, some kind of blow-job-induced-psychosis overtaking him when blessedly, _finally_ , Shouyou wrapped his lips around him for the first time.

“Fuuuuck… fuck, Shou,” he whined as his angel took him down to his throat, sheathing his entire cock in his wet, warm mouth.  Tobio felt Shouyou’s hands pressing against his hips as they erratically jolted, helpless to stop his body’s compulsive reactions.  He didn’t want to give Shouyou more than he could handle-- _it’s his first time, too_ \--but it was nearly impossible.

It was just… _that_ good, what with Shouyou’s tongue sliding up his dick, the tight pressure of his lips, and the heat, the fucking _heat_ that his angel was giving him.  It drove him wild, Tobio panting as he felt shivers within him intensify, his body hurtling towards a precipice with every slow, careful dip of Shouyou’s head.

It was _perfect._

“You.. you’re… f-fuck, please…” he croaked as he carded his fingers through Shouyou’s hair.

Before long he was close, _so close_ , and he urgently pawed at Shouyou’s head and shoulders in warning, but Shouyou only answered with a moan Tobio felt deep in his balls.

Tobio barked out a yell as he came, Shouyou’s mouth still wrapped firmly around his dick that was just a little too far down his throat.  Shouyou coughed on his release as Tobio felt the last vestiges of his pleasure leave him until only a whole-body relaxation he hadn’t felt in fucking _ages_ remained.

Shouyou sat up between his legs, wiping Tobio’s cum-- _jesus fucking christ_ \--off his chin.

“I’m sorry,” Tobio blurted out, his insides twisted up by the image of Shouyou sitting there, all messy and soft and undone in the tent.  On one hand, he wanted to apologize for making him cough on his _goddamn cum,_ for fuck’s sake.  But on the other… Shouyou cleaning himself up was the hottest thing he’d ever seen.

Shouyou just smiled, crawling forward to lay next to Tobio.  “I’m not,” he whispered in Tobio’s ear before plastering himself to Tobio’s side.

 _God_.

After all they’d been through, after Tobio spent nights wondering if he’d ever even see Shouyou again, he felt a gratitude that had him nestling closer to his angel.  Tobio yearned to keep him close, to never let him out of his sight again. He’d follow him to the ends of the universe to save the stupid world.

_You’ll never be alone again, Shou…_

He wound his arms around Shouyou, squeezing their bodies together as he tried to think of what to say now that the distraction of sex had passed.   _He can’t forget forever._  At the height of Tobio’s own nightmares, the prospect of sleep had had him toiling through bouts of anxiety.  Though he knew Shouyou must be experiencing the same, he struggled to find the words to help him after over a week coping with his self-described torturous nightmares.

That was, until he realized his charge had already passed out, his light snores filling up the tent.

“Dumbass,” he whispered, helpless to let his smile split his face in two.

Tobio curled up around Shouyou, brushing his wayward orange hair aside to kiss his forehead before following his angel to sleep.

\----

“Psst, uhh… guys, wake up?”

Shouyou startled awake at the sound of the voice outside the tent.  He tried to sit up but found his way blocked, Tobio’s arm and leg wrapped over him like a vise.

“Guys, come on, we have to go soon--”

“Shut the fuck _up_ , Kuroo,” Tobio mumbled into Shouyou’s hair.  Shouyou giggled, wondering if there was ever a time Tobio _wasn’t_ grumpy.

“We’re up, Kuroo!” Shouyou clarified.

Tobio’s arms squeezed around him a little bit tighter.

As Kuroo’s steps receded from the tent, Shouyou snuggled closer into the warmth of Tobio’s arms.  He wasn’t sure how long they’d slept, but it could’ve been for an entire day with how much better he felt.

He’d sleep without nightmares again, 10/10.

As Tobio seemed to relax and drift off again, Shouyou considered his feelings for Tobio; the distance apart seemed to only stitch them irreversibly, unnaturally together.  In his darkest moments on the ship he’d found himself clinging to the thought of seeing Tobio again.  Now in the shelter of Tobio’s arms, he squirmed with unease at the thought that one person could hold so much power over his well-being, over his sleep.  Was their relationship even… healthy?  Was it real?  Did Tobio even feel the same--

“You okay?” Tobio murmured, somehow awake and tuned into the direction of his thoughts.

_Would he leave him like everyone… else?_

Shouyou scooted up in his arms and nodded, a silent lie, as he panned his vision all over Tobio’s face and his barely open blue eyes.  He took a deep breath of the air, a little too warm and used, the characteristic smells of Luxate intermingling with the smell of Tobio’s sweater.

He missed the sweater.

Shouyou blushed and looked down at Tobio’s collarbones, all intertwined with lean cords of muscle under his smooth skin.  He ran his fingers through Tobio’s silky black hair.  “What happened last night, after you…?”

Tobio grumbled, pulling Shouyou closer to him as he kissed his forehead.  “You passed out.”

“Oh, um… I’m sorry…”

“Mmm.”

Shouyou giggled.  “Not a morning person, huh?  You know, you’re pretty talkative when--”

“Sh-shut up.  C’mere.”

Tobio pulled him in for another kiss and Shouyou smiled against his lips, doubts momentarily subsided.  It wasn’t long before Shouyou lost himself in it, the memories of his torture and the arduous trek on Luxate long forgotten with the smooth glide of Tobio’s tongue and his warm arms pressing him close.

He felt Tobio harden against him, and soon he was filled with desire--not for his own pleasure, but for--

“Mmm, Tobio, I…”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, boys, the second round can wait until the _after_ the apocalypse!” Kuroo exclaimed with mock seriousness, his voice even closer to the tent than before.

The pair in the tent stiffened, bumping their heads against the canopied walls.  Shouyou could barely gasp before Tobio had rolled to shield him from the tent entrance, barking out, “If you come in here I’ll fucking kill you, asshole!”

“Oooohh ho hooo, did you hear that Kenma?  You _so_ called it.”

Kozume replied from somewhere nearby, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that they--”

“Yeah, but, you _are_ one,” Kuroo said in a sing-song voice.

Kozume and Tobio audibly sighed, but Shouyou had been away from the group for so long that he didn’t mind the stupid jokes.

He even _missed_ them.

As soon as Kuroo’s footsteps receded, _again_ , Tobio looked down at Shouyou for a few moments, a blush riding high on his cheeks.  He then dropped to encase Shouyou in his arms, a hug full of wishes and dreams of staying in the tent for the foreseeable future.

_I wish we could, too, Tobio…_

After a lingering kiss, Tobio pulled up, his partially lidded eyes roaming over Shouyou’s face.  “God… damnit.  I guess we should, um… get up.”

Shouyou nodded, but Tobio didn’t comply, the two staring at each other in a silence loaded with what-if's and why’s.

_What if we didn’t have to save the world?  Why do we have to leave now?  Why is this happening to us?  What if we never get to do this again… what if I’m too broken for…_

“Promise me something, Tobio?” Shouyou whispered.

“Anything,” Tobio replied, just as quietly.

“Will you… will you stay with me?”

Tobio closed his eyes, a rush of air leaving his lungs.

“Strike three, Kageyama!  Hinata!  Now _get out!”_

That time is was Sawamura, and while Shouyou was confident even he wouldn’t come bursting into the tent, the look on Tobio’s face echoed Shouyou’s thoughts: Sawamura was scary when he was angry.

Tobio sighed and sat up, breaking their wistful staring contest.  He began contorting his long arms around in hurried, robotic movements as he tried to put his clothes back on in the cramped tent, but Shouyou offered no help; instead, he watched on in awe from his lounge on the tent floor, his heart fluttering at getting a good look at Tobio’s naked skin for only the second-- _third?_ \--time.  

“What… what are you looking at?” Tobio asked with his shirt hiked up his arms, his cheeks flushed red.

“Mmm?  Oh!  Um… nothing!  Nothing…” Shouyou said, avoiding Tobio’s gaze.

Tobio resumed dressing, but as soon as Shouyou found an opening he sat up and kissed Tobio’s cheek.  He quickly donned his Luxan clothes, Tobio sitting stock still, a fresh blush riding high on his cheeks.   _Gotcha!_  With one last article to put on, Shouyou’s movements slowed; he didn’t want to leave the tent, and he didn’t want to resume his role as the fifth element and get chased and captured and _hurt_ by virtually everyone in the stupid universe.

He didn’t want Tobio, Koushi, and the others to leave once all of this was over.  And then those awful memories returned, reminding him that most of the humans probably weren’t even worth saving.  

_I don’t…_

“I don’t want to leave,” he spoke quietly to the floor of the tent, scrunching up his Luxan-style thermal shirt in his hands.  He chose to keep the worst of those memories to himself.

Tobio sighed and grabbed at Shouyou’s shirt, arranging it to help him put it on.  Shouyou fell forward and nestled his face into Tobio’s neck, letting his natural scent fill his senses.  “Neither do I, Shou, but… I don’t care where we have to go.  You’re… you’re… here.  With, um… with me.”

Shouyou pulled back, stunned at the man’s confession.  Tobio bristled under the attention, rubbing the back of his neck and tossing the inside-in shirt back in Shouyou’s lap.  He stuttered out something before bolting from the tent, but Shouyou hadn’t heard his muttering.

_You’re here.  With me._

Shouyou smiled, warmth suffusing his insides, his first genuine smile morphing his face in what felt like _forever_.

He followed Tobio out of the tent, finding their group loitering around the still-burning campfire.  As he reached the clearing, he saw Koushi waving him over.

“Shouyou!  How are you feeling?”

“I’m… I’m okay.  Are we leaving soon?”

“Yes, soon.  We came up with some good ideas while you were, um… busy,” Koushi finished with a mirthful smile.

Shouyou blushed but nodded, waiting for Koushi to leave before glancing over at Tobio, Kozume, and his alien friend on the clearing’s outskirts.  The two nerds were chatting animatedly, probably about wormholes or alternate dimensions or some other weirdo space stuff while the alien looked on quietly.

“Alright everyone, gather ‘round.  Let’s re-hash the plan and get going,” Sawamura announced across the clearing, his easy authority drawing everyone in like moths to a flame around the camp’s central fire.  “The Luxans know where the rest of the stones are, and we finally have Hinata back,” he spoke, glancing over at Shouyou.  “But we are running out of time.  Kenma, what’s our status?”

“83 hours,” Kozume replied distractedly.

“Right.  We’ll split into four teams, each with a Luxan escort.  Kuroo and Kenma will go retrieve the Water stone.”  The two in question nodded.  “Suga and I will find Fire and Wind, since the map suggests they aren’t too far apart.  Akaashi and Bokuto will take the Karasuno and fly around as a decoy.  With this many retrieval teams, If something happens to one, the other two have time to take up the slack.  Ideally, it just means we get all the shit we need sooner.”

“Sawamura?”

“Yes, Hinata?”

“What about me and Tobio?”

Sawamura looked over at Koushi and nodded.  The priest stepped up to Shouyou and placed his hands on his shoulders.  “You and Tobio are taking the Earth stone and going straight to the temple on Proxima Centauri.”

“By… by ourselves?”

Koushi nodded, but interrupted himself to hold up a finger.  “Oh, well, you’ll have some company.”

“But… who?  Not… not the other priests--”

“Oh, no no, not them.”

Shouyou followed the direction of Koushi’s stare, focused on a group of Luxans by the fire.

“You mean… a Luxan?”

Koushi nodded, this time with a smile.

As if on cue, Tobio walked towards them with Shouyou’s alien friend, taking a place by Shouyou’s side.  Tobio placed a reassuring arm around Shouyou’s shoulders, and he melted into his hold.  “Koushi, can’t you… speak to them?” Tobio asked.

“Well, yes, but--”

“I think they want to talk to Shou.  Can you translate?”

Stunned to silence, Shouyou met eyes with the alien, who seemed to smile.

_We can… we can talk?_

“I… I guess so!  We can try!”

Tobio nodded, and soon the the alien was kneeling in front of him, at Shouyou’s eye-level, reaching back to hold Koushi’s hand.

“It is the sworn duty of the Luxans to protect the fifth element,” Koushi began, the words stilted and awkward as he translated on the fly.  “But as your friend, I want to see you safe.”

Shouyou gaped at the words as he felt the comfortable presence of Tobio closer, the arm around him tightening, an absentminded kiss placed in his hair.  The alien seemed to smile at Tobio’s actions.

Koushi continued translating with a little smirk on his face, “I know you have been sad, and your sleep troubled.  But now your heart is here.  I will see you both safe, beyond our world.”

Shouyou felt his face drain of color, an automatic giggle leaving his mouth.  As Tobio stiffened beside him, Shouyou tried to concoct some plan to explain away the embarrassing sentiment, his brain running on all cylinders for the first time in a week.   _What if that’s too much, what if it scares him off--_

_You’re here.  With me._

“Um, they… you aren’t, um…” he mumbled to the ground.

“Shut up, dumbass,” Tobio said quietly into his hair.

He wanted to continue denying the alien’s words but something else clicked into place.  “Wait, you’re… _you’re_ coming with me--us?  You… with us?”

The alien smiled.

Sawamura clapped, drawing everyone’s attention again.  “Alright, we good?  Everyone good?”  He smiled, rubbing his hands together.  “Let’s save humanity, boys.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr! [47tuc.tumblr.com](https://47tuc.tumblr.com/)


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